Thousands of Minnesotans mourn the death of two children after Annunciation Church shooting

Hundreds of Minnesotans jammed into the gymnasium of the Academy of the Holy Angels in Richfield to mourn the loss of two children and injuries to over a dozen others after a shooter opened fire outside Annunciation Church in south Minneapolis Wednesday.

Bernard Hebda, archbishop of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, led the hundreds of mourners through a Catholic prayer service. He told the attendees that the front of the Annunciation Church bore the inscription, “House of God. Gate of Heaven.”

“How is it that such a terrible tragedy could take place in a place that’s the house of God and the gate of Heaven? It’s unthinkable,” Hebda said. “But we, brothers and sisters, trust that it’s precisely in that house of God where we’re most at home.”

The mourners packed into the bleachers and stood to the side of the procession. Gov. Tim Walz, U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar and Attorney General Keith Ellison were in attendance.

 “We have a God who doesn’t turn away from pain,” Hebda said. Jesus took on pain, Hebda said, because he loves people, even imploring believers in the Gospel of Matthew to “love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.”

“(Jesus) loves all of those children who were in that church this morning. He loves their families. He loves the shooter. He loves all of us, brothers and sisters,” Hebda said. 

Michael Thomas, a member of the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe, was at the vigil because his 14-year-old son attends Annunciation School and was in the Mass where the shooting took place. His son was unharmed, but Thomas said his son cried when he was reunited with his parents and is still upset because his best friend was shot and is recovering in the hospital.

Thomas said that once he finally had the means to send his children to private school, he jumped at the chance because he thought it would be safer than public school.

“I’d rather send them to a place where I know they’ll be safe at, but as of today that’s changed,” Thomas said.

Lola Abdul, who lives in north Minneapolis, didn’t know anyone personally who attended Annunciation School, but she attended the Richfield vigil because she said as a Catholic, it’s important to “pray with our words and pray with our deeds.”

Local restaurants, including Pizza Lucé, handed out free food to the people leaving the Academy of Holy Angels.

About three miles away, hundreds of other attendees crowded in Minneapolis’ Lynnhurst Park, where the anti-gun violence groups Protect Minnesota and Moms Demand Action co-hosted a candlelit vigil.

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Editor’s note: This story, which originally appeared Aug. 27, was written by Michelle Griffith, who covers Minnesota politics and policy for the Minnesota Reformer, with a focus on marginalized communities.

The Minnesota Reformer is an independent, nonprofit news organization dedicated to keeping Minnesotans informed and uncovering stories other outlets can’t or won’t report. It is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501(c)(3) public charity.