A total of 19 people were wounded in the shooting — all but three were children. Two children, ages 8 and 10, have died, according to Minneapolis police, and two other children are in critical condition.
Hennepin Healthcare says it is treating 10 patients — all but two being kids between the ages of 6 and 14. Seven of them were brought in as “critical patients” and four required the operating room.
Children’s Minnesota confirmed it is treating six children injured in the shooting.
The shooter was dressed in all black and armed with a rifle when he fired at Annunciation Catholic Church just before 8:30 a.m. Minneapolis police say he had a rifle, shotgun and pistol, which he used to fire from the outside of the church through windows.
Police say the shooter, 23-year old Robert Westman, is dead from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound. He was in his early 20s and didn’t have an extensive criminal history.
It happened during an 8:15 a.m. Mass that marked the first week of school at next-door Annunciation Catholic School.
"Norris Roberts said that his 12-year-old stepgrandson, who was injured in his stomach in the attack, was out of surgery and is no longer in critical condition. Mr. Roberts said he was worried about the long-term mental health impact this will have on the boy, who saw a girl get shot in the head. “It’s horrific for him to go through that, and it’s going to be a lifelong problem for him,” he said. “I can’t fathom that happened and you being stable. It’s not normal.”
People offered their thoughts and prayers for the dead and injured children and adults.
“Children are dead, there are families that have a deceased child. You cannot put into words the gravity, tragedy or absolute pain of the situation,” Mayor Jacob Frey of Minneapolis said in a news conference on the shooting outside Annunciation Catholic School.
“Don’t just say this is about thoughts and prayers right now, these kids were literally praying,” he added. “It was the first week of school, they were in a church.”
5 comments:
We will soon know what our "mourner in chief" has to say, along with all the rest of our elected "leaders".
Will some politically criticize others for a political response? Of course.
Will some call for more gun control laws? Of course.
Will some say there is nothing we can do? Of course.
Will some call for thoughts and prayer? Of course.
Will some call for more mental health options without a way to fund that "solution"? Of course.
Will some say we need to enforce the laws we already have? Of course.
Will anything change as a result of another mass shooting, the kind some people claim never happen in the USA and are just hoaxes by trained LARPs? No, nothing will change.
Because we are no longer a serious people determined to find solutions to difficult issues. Rather, we prefer to yell past each other, eschewing the hard work of coming together and overcoming differences, for the common good of a pluralistic, diverse group of United States of America.
Can I put an 'Amen' on that Dave?
BB... I lament the loss of the Howard Baker's, Tip O'Neill, Dan Rostenkowski, Dan Moynihan, Barry Goldwater, Mark Hatfield, John McCain and others, partisan leaders to be sure, but serious people. Folks who would tell their presidents to stuff it if what they wanted to do was stupid or not good for America.
All of these guys worked with members of the other party to do good, seldom perfect, but good, for America.
Now?
Dave, Good post, both of them. We have become so political that we have forgotten we are still all brothers and sisters. There is just to much hate in the world and it is ramped up by our elected elite.
As Republicans inevitably blame mental health and not the guns for yet another school shooting - kindly remind them that 205 of them voted AGAINST a bill to expand school-based mental health services.
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