An eight-year-old boy and a 10-year-old girl who were killed in a mass shooting at a Minneapolis Catholic school have been identified by their parents.
Fletcher Merkel, eight, and Harper Moyski, 10, died during the attack on the Annunciation Catholic school church on Wednesday morning, their parents confirmed. A further 17 people, 14 of them children, were injured in the shooting.
“Yesterday, a coward decided to take our eight-year-old son, Fletcher, away from us,” Jesse Merkel said outside the school on Thursday, of the attack that police say was perpetrated by a 23-year-old former student who then killed themself after the shooting.
“Because of their actions, we will never be allowed to hold him, talk to him, play with him and watch him grow into the wonderful young man he was on the path to becoming.”
Jesse Merkel said that Fletcher loved his family, friends, fishing, cooking and “any sport he was allowed to play”.
He added: “While the hole in our hearts and lives will never be filled, I hope that in time, our family can find healing. I pray that the other victim’s family can find some semblance of the same.”
Harper Moyski’s parents also released a statement, remembering their daughter as a “bright, joyful and deeply loved 10-year-old whose laughter, kindness and spirit touched everyone who knew her”.
“Our hearts are broken not only as parents, but also for Harper’s sister, who adored her big sister and is grieving an unimaginable loss,” Harper’s parents, Michael Moyski and Jackie Flavin, said in a statement to ABC Minneapolis station KSTP. “As a family, we are shattered, and words cannot capture the depth of our pain.”
Harper’s parents added that no other family should have to endure what they have.
“We urge our leaders and communities to take meaningful steps to address gun violence and the mental health crisis in this country,” they said. “Change is possible, and it is necessary – so that Harper’s story does not become yet another in a long line of tragedies.”
The shooting took place during a mass that marked the first week of school. Police said the suspected perpetrator, Robin Westman, fired into the church from outside, through the windows. The doors of the church were locked during the service, which probably saved “countless lives”, according to investigators.
A Minneapolis hospital on Friday said it was caring for six of the shooting’s victims – including five children. One child remains in critical condition, one adult was in serious condition and four children were in satisfactory condition, Hennepin Healthcare (HCMC) officials said in a statement reported by the local news outlet KARE.
KARE reported that HCMC treated 10 of the shooting’s victims. Children’s Minnesota said to KARE on Friday that it had treated seven child victims – six of whom had been discharged.
An exact motive for the shooting is still unclear. However, police and investigators said Westman had a “deranged fascination” with mass shooters and was obsessed with the idea of killing children.
A search warrant for the church said there were three guns seized as evidence: a semiautomatic pistol, a pump-action shotgun and a semiautomatic rifle, as NBC reported.
There were also items that may have been intended to be used as a smoke bomb, including a gas container and a metal pull pin. The shooter was found dead in the back of the church with a bullet wound to the head.
In a news conference on Thursday, Joseph Thompson, the acting US attorney general for Minnesota and a recent appointee of Trump, said that in writings left behind, “the shooter expressed hate towards many groups, including the Jewish community and towards President Trump.”
“I won’t dignify the attacker’s words by repeating them, they are horrific and vile,” Thompson added.
The attack has again reignited calls for stricter controls upon guns, particularly assault weapons, that enable the sort of regular mass carnage in schools, churches, movie theaters and other places in the US that would be unthinkable in most other countries around the world.
“There is no reason that someone should be able to reel off 30 shots before they even have to reload,” said Jacob Frey, the mayor of Minneapolis.
“We’re not talking about your father’s hunting rifle here. We’re talking about guns that are built to pierce armor and kill people.”
