MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Vice President JD Vance on Wednesday met with families and victims of a shooting at a Catholic church in Minneapolis that killed two schoolchildren and injured 21 people.
Vance, who converted to Catholicism in 2019, visited the Annunciation Catholic Church one week after an attacker opened fire during the first Mass of the school year for students of the nearby Annunciation Catholic School.
According to Vance's office, the vice president and second lady Usha Vance met privately with family members of victims, the pastor of the parish and the school principal. They included the parents of the two children who died, Fletcher Merkel, 8, and Harper Moyski, 10.
The couple also visited the church sanctuary, where the shootings took place, to pay their respects to the victims and their families, and laid bouquets at a memorial outside the church. They paused to read messages chalked on the church steps, including. “God Heals The Broken Hearted,” “We Love you,” and “Show Love.”
“I have never had a day that will stay with me like this day did,” Vance told reporters.
Vance refuses to comment on Minnesota gun laws
Some family and neighbors gathered nearby as the Vances arrived at the church, holding signs calling for bans on assault weapons. One read, “Pro-Life = Pro-Gun Safety.” Another read, “When you pray, move your feet," a phrase related to the idea that thoughts and prayers are not enough. Another referred to comments by Pope Leo on Sunday, “Listen to the Pope, End the Pandemic of Arms.”
“Nothing is happening," said Kacie Sharpe. Her 8-year-old son, Trip, considered Fletcher his best friend, and was sitting nearby when he was shot and killed. "And it keeps happening over and over and over — and nothing changes. And it’s the most helpless feeling in the world to know that you can’t send your kids to school and have them be safe.”
Vance declined at the end of his visit to weigh in on how Minnesota lawmakers or Democratic Gov. Tim Walz should respond to the tragedy, including the governor's stated intention to call a special session of the Legislature to address gun and school safety.
“I would just say, take the concerns of these parents seriously,” Vance told reporters. "I think all of us, Democrat, Republican and independent, want these school shootings to happen less frequently. Hopefully there’s some steps that we can take to make that happen.”
The meeting at the church lasted roughly an hour and 45 minutes. As Vance left, his motorcade rolled past a few dozen protesters, several holding signs saying, “Hate Won’t Make America Great.”
The shooter, 23-year-old Robin Westman, died by suicide after firing 116 rifle rounds through the church’s stained-glass windows last Wednesday as hundreds of students and others gathered for worship.
Young victims undergo surgery
The motorcade headed for Children’s Hospital, where several of the victims were treated. The Vances visited with Lydia Kaiser, who is recovering from surgery, and her family, the hospital said.
Vance also spoke by phone with one of the children who was injured, 10-year-old Weston Halsne, who had surgery at Children's on Wednesday to remove a bullet fragment from his neck and was unavailable for an in-person visit the hospital said.
“The procedure went well, and Weston is expected to make a full physical recovery,” the boy's family said in a statement.
Weston, a 5th grader, didn't realize he was hit at the time. He told reporters after the shots blasted through the windows that he ducked for the pews, covering his head.
“My friend Victor, like, saved me though because he laid on top of me. But he got hit,” he said.
The school has not said when classes will resume or a ceremony will be held to essentially reconsecrate the church so that worship can resume there. The church celebrated its Masses last weekend in the school gym.
Fletcher Merkel’s funeral is set for Sunday at Mount Olivet Lutheran Church in Minneapolis, his family said in a statement Wednesday. Harper Moyski’s arrangements have not been announced.
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