‘Kids Should Not Be Fearing for Their Lives’
Bishop Kevin Kenney, who leads a Catholic church in downtown Minneapolis, called Wednesday’s incident “horrific.” About the violence epidemic, he said, “Something has got to happen to stop this.” Minneapolis experienced three other shootings from Tuesday afternoon through early Wednesday, leaving three people dead and at least eight others wounded.
“Minnesota is heartbroken,” wrote Gov. Tim Walz about the mass shooting. “From the officers responding, to the clergy and teachers providing comfort, to the hospital staff saving lives, we will get through this together. Hug your kids close.”
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Sen. Tina Smith (D-MN) wrote, “It’s the first week of school. These kids should not be fearing for their lives.”
Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) said, “I think this image of this gunman shooting through these windows, picking off these kids while they’re praying, is something that is going to be with people for a long time.”
Father Edward Beck, a Catholic priest in New York, said, “The fact that [the mass shooting] occurs in a church, in some ways makes it even more horrific because it’s a place of prayer and sanctuary and peace that has been utterly violated by this violence.”
As for addressing gun violence, Beck said, “I think it begins by kneeling in solidarity as a community. That this is just heinous and wrong and unjust, and that we need to do something about it. But that impetus comes from the shared humanity, the sense of community.”
