By Janice Hisle and Savannah Hulsey Pointer
Contributing Writers
MINNEAPOLIS — As the sun set Thursday night at Annunciation Catholic Church and School, resident Kate Campo sat on the ground, weeping over a gunman’s deadly Wednesday morning ambush of a back-to-school Mass at the school.
Campo’s Saint Bernard, Magnus, licked her tears away. But they kept flowing, as she lamented the deaths of two schoolchildren and the wounding of 18 other victims.
“It’s personal,” Campo said, even for people like her, who didn’t know the children who were slain — Fletcher Merkel, an 8-year-old boy, and Harper Moyski, a 10-year-old girl.
The tragedy “hits us all very personally,” Campo said, because the community surrounding the church is close-knit.
“It’s been so hard,” she said.
Earlier in the day, parents of the deceased children released public statements.
Harper’s parents described her as “bright, joyful and deeply loved,” saying she was adored by her younger sister.
“As a family, we are shattered, and words cannot capture the depth of our pain,” the Moyskis said. “No family should ever have to endure this kind of pain. We urge our leaders and communities to take meaningful steps to address gun violence and the mental health crisis in this country.”
Fletcher’s father, Jesse Merkel, said their son loved his family and friends.
“We will never be allowed to hold him, talk to him, play with him, and watch him grow into the wonderful young man he was on the path to becoming,” he said.
“Please remember Fletcher for the person he was and not the act that ended his life.”
Both deceased children’s names were scrawled in chalk along the church’s front walkway with the words: “Taken too soon. But with us forever.”
‘Different Level’ of Grief
Many at the scene bowed their heads in prayer. Mourners also marveled at the expressions of love overflowing outside.
Multicolored flowers, artwork, candles and heartfelt handwritten messages lined the building’s entrance.
“Grief has moved into a different level,” said Dan Beazley, an observer who drove 11 hours from Detroit to bring a 10-foot-tall, 65-pound cedarwood cross as a visual reminder of Christian faith.
“I’m seeing more tears right now than I saw all day,” Beazley said as darkness set in. “The quietness of the evening is changing the hearts of the people right now.”
Beazley, who has taken the cross to major events in 30 states to inspire religious faith, said it is unusual to see a memorial burgeon as quickly as this one did, and to see so many people stand in silence for an hour or more.
At other memorial scenes, people typically would drop off a tribute and leave after spending a moment or two, he said; visitors’ bouquets would stack up haphazardly and wither quickly without water.
At Annunciation, volunteers are acting with great care, placing each bouquet into a water-filled bucket, ensuring that the blooms last longer.
“It is absolutely stunning. It is so beautiful, and it’s growing by the minute. I’ve never seen anything like it,” Beazley said.
Effects Reverberate
Earlier, hundreds of people attended a pair of prayer services at well-known Catholic venues, and hospital officials gave updates on patients. They also praised schoolchildren who put themselves in harm’s way to protect their schoolmates from a gunman whom police identified as Robert “Robin” Westman. He died of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound. Three legally purchased firearms were used in the attack, police said, but the motive remained unclear.
Mary Perez was thankful that her son, Felix, 6, survived unscathed, but “he had to witness things I wish he didn’t have to,” she said. She and Felix were among thousands who attended an interfaith prayer service at the Basilica of Saint Mary. That 3,000-seat venue was mostly full for the evening gathering.
“I am really feeling the love from the community, really feeling supported and important, along with the other parents,” Perez said afterward. “It’s like we’re in this together, and we’re going to bounce back, and we’re going to come back to school and be a family.”
Bishop Emotional
Earlier, in a noon service at the Cathedral of Saint Paul, Bishop Kevin Kenney’s voice cracked as he described hearing about older children heroically shielding younger children during the shooting.
“They put their lives on the line to protect the little ones,” he told congregants.
The children’s acts of courage were evidence that “the evil outside” brought people together in acts of love, the bishop said, noting these examples of courage and selflessness ought to inspire others.
To those asking what they can do in response to the shootings, Kenney said, “We can stand and make an effort to continue to work to protect our children,” and work toward ending violence in society.
The bishop, who delivered his remarks in Spanish and English, also urged people “to continue to build a society, a culture, a church that cares for one another.”
The bishop joined Archbishop Bernard Hebda and other clergymen in urging people to turn to their faith to lighten the immense burden, sadness and frustration that the shooting caused.
The high-ranking clergymen led people in songs, prayer and quiet reflection during the hour-long service.
Many attendees knelt in prayer, hands tightly clasped.
Church Describes Its Calling
In an announcement inviting people to the service, the cathedral’s website said, “We are called to be the light of Christ in this dark moment of tragedy.”
The statement pointed out that unrelated gun violence victimized people elsewhere in Minneapolis on Wednesday, the same day of the Annunciation shooting.
For Catholics, “nothing is more sacred than the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.” Therefore, “the shootings during school Mass at Annunciation add sacrilege to murder,” the statement said.
Besides praying for those who were slain, injured, or grieving over that violence, officials also prayed for public safety workers, emergency medical professionals, teachers, schoolchildren “whose sense of safety has been shattered,” and people who might be tempted to commit violence.
After the service, Virginia Schmidt, a mother of seven children, said that attending helped comfort her.
“Prayer is like balm for the soul,” she said.
Visitors Find Service
Some people attended the prayer service after stumbling upon it. The cathedral, a popular tourist attraction, often shows up on internet searches for “things to do” in the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint Paul, Minnesota.
That was how the Pearsons found it. They had traveled from their home in Seattle to attend the Wisconsin State Fair outside Minneapolis.
The Pearsons were at the fairgrounds outside Minneapolis on Wednesday when word of the shooting spread, casting a pall over one of the nation’s largest state fairs. Lanae Pearson, 59, said she and her family felt guilty about trying to have a good time amid such tragedy. She said the feeling was palpable among fairgoers.
“I sensed there was a bit of high alert, even with the law enforcement that was walking around the fair, and people were standing and watching the TV monitors,” she said.
When the family arrived at the cathedral, they were unaware of the prayer service until a reporter informed them about it.
Update on Wounded Patients
Around the same time as the Saint Paul’s prayer service, officials held a news conference at Hennepin County Medical Center. The center’s emergency medical services chief, Martin Scheerer, told reporters that it was “really amazing” to hear about the children who were protecting their friends and classmates.
“We had one kid that covered up another kid and took a shotgun blast,” he said.
Local media Fox 9 interviewed Weston Halsne, a fifth-grader who described a friend safeguarding him during such a scenario. He said his friend lay on top of him to shield him from gunfire, then was hospitalized with a gunshot wound to the back.
The child described the event as “very scary,” partially because he and other students had only done active shooter drills in their school, never in the church where the violence erupted.
“We just got into the pews, and he shot through the stained glass windows,” the boy said.
Dr. Thomas Klemond, CEO of the medical center, said the hospital was caring for nine patients from the shooting; six of them were in satisfactory condition, including five children. One adult and one child were in serious condition, and a child was still in critical condition, he said.
Dr. Jon Gayken, a leading trauma surgeon at the hospital, said the shooting could have taken a much bigger toll.
“There were a lot of gunshot wounds in places that were meant to kill people,” Gayken said. “If there is such a thing as a silver lining to this, there were less casualties than what possibly could have been.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
