The line wrapped around the brick building, people flowing into a high school gym already nearly full of a community in mourning.
The vigil at Academy of Holy Angels, 2 miles from the site where two schoolchildren were killed by a gunman during morning mass at Annunciation church, drew people of all faiths from around the Minneapolis metro area.
A couple of miles down the road, many hundreds gathered in a park for another vigil that called for stricter gun control and an end to the senseless violence that has become a fixture of American life.
Across the Twin Cities metro area, church leaders gathered their parishes in prayer and communion, joining together to find solace and make sense of the tragedy. Many had ties to the school, or saw their own children reflected in the faces of those affected.
A shooter at the Annunciation Catholic school opened fire on Wednesday morning, spraying bullets through stained-glass windows into the pews during morning mass in the school’s first week of classes. The two children killed were aged eight and 10. Fourteen other children and three adults were injured, and officials said they expected all to survive. The third casualty was the shooter, who killed themself.
At Holy Angels, parents filed into the gym, with babies in arms and in strollers, and alongside their teens and pre-teens. The opening prayer called on God: “Our children were suddenly and violently taken from us. Come swiftly to our aid.”
Inside, vocalists sang hymns as those gathered joined in. They wept and put their arms around one another.
Archbishop Bernard A Hebda told the packed bleachers and full gym floor that he hoped the community gathered in prayer gave the families a sense that they were not alone. Amy Klobuchar, the senator from Minnesota, told the Minnesota Star Tribune the family of one of the deceased children was at the school vigil. “It is brave to be here tonight,” she told the paper.
Hebda said he was struck by the children who said their friends shielded them from the bullets – that courage, that love in the middle of such tragedy. He implored people to look for hope amid their pain. The school’s scripture theme for the year, he noted, was Jeremiah 29:11: “For I know full well the plans I have for you, plans for your welfare and not for your misfortune, plans that will offer you a future filled with hope.”
As the crowd inside prayed for the first responders, the families of the children who suffered losses, and people suffering from mental illness, two crosses were put up outside the door to honor the children who died, with “mercy and compassion” written on the back.
The long lines and large vigils were reminiscent of scenes earlier this summer, after the state lawmaker Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark, were murdered at their home by a gunman imitating a police officer. The Hortman family issued a public statement late Wednesday, saying no one should have to deal with losing loved ones to gun violence.
“Mark and Melissa believed that children should be able to gather in schools safely, that communities should be able to worship in peace, and that families should be safe in their homes,” the Hortman family said. “We hope this tragedy spurs elected officials to take action towards common sense measures on access to high-powered weapons so that no one else must suffer.”
Flowers laid at a light pole outside the police line near the Annunication school earlier in the day had grown in number by nightfall, joined by signs showing support and solidarity with the community. “RIP angels,” one sign said.
At nearby Lynnhurst Park, the crowd held candles and listened to elected officials talk about the need for action. As dusk settled, a sliver of a moon above, they applauded and cheered when speeches called for stricter gun laws. Bikes circled the park – people rode in from around the area.
The mayor, Jacob Frey, said the shooting was an unspeakable tragedy that never should have happened, adding “how many times have you heard a politician at a microphone say that?”
The city needed to move from “united in grief” to “united in action”, he said.
The lieutenant governor, Peggy Flanagan, said people needed to keep showing up to say that this violence would not be tolerated, she said. They needed to demand better laws.
She said she was there as a mother and as a Catholic, more than as a politician. “God weeps, Jesus weeps in this moment, because we have free will and all the tools to stop this violence against our children.
“We need to love our babies and our children more than our guns.”
