Democratic Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey scolded any Christian who is offering their “prayers” for the victims of the Annunciation Catholic School shooting on Wednesday.
A now-deceased suspect killed two children, aged eight and ten, and injured 17 others after he opened fire inside the school’s church on Wednesday. Following the tragedy, the mayor told people not to offer their “thoughts and prayers” to the victims and their families, despite these children sitting inside a church at the time of the shooting.
“Don’t just say this is about thoughts and prayers right now. These kids were literally praying. It was the first week of school, they were in a church,” Frey said during a press conference. “These are kids that should be learning with their friends, they should be playing on the playground, they should be able to go to school or church in piece without the fear or risk of violence and their parents should have the same kind of assurance. These are the sort of basic assurances that every family should have every step of the day no matter where they are in our country.”
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Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara confirmed during the press conference that 14 of the 17 injured are children, and two of those kids are in critical condition. The shooter, who is believed to be in his early 20s, took his own life with the firearm after the incident.
The children were attending a Mass service at the time of the shooting, O’Hara added.
“Our hearts are broken for the families who have lost their children,” O’Hara said. “For these young lives who are now fighting to recover and for our entire community that has been so deeply traumatized by this senseless attack. We will stand together to protect our children, our schools and our houses of worship.”
O’Hara said the gunman approached the Annunciation Catholic Church on the exterior side of the building and shot through the windows while children and faculty sat in the pews. The suspect was armed with a rifle, a shotgun and a pistol and is believed to have used all three weapons.
While telling Christians not to offer their prayers, Frey signed an ordinance in April 2023 which made Minneapolis the only major city in the U.S. to allow mosques to broadcast the Islamic call to prayer five times a day.
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