The second student killed in a mass shooting at a Minneapolis Catholic church was identified Thursday by her distraught parents, who remembered their “deeply loved” 10-year-old as a bright and joyful youngster.
Harper Moyski was shot and killed after 23-year-old Robin Westman opened fire inside the Annunciation Church and Catholic School during a welcome Mass for the new school year.
The little girl’s family shared a statement honoring their daughter and pleading with lawmakers to address gun violence in the US.
“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. As a family, we are shattered, and words cannot capture the depth of our pain,” the family wrote in a statement.
“While our immediate focus is on Harper and our family’s healing, we also believe it is important that her memory fuels action. No family should ever have to endure this kind of pain.
“We urge our leaders and communities to take meaningful steps to address gun violence and the mental health crisis in this country. Change is possible, and it is necessary—so that Harper’s story does not become yet another in a long line of tragedies,” their statement said.
Harper and Fletcher Merkel, 8, were the only two victims killed during the massacre.
The children were both “killed where they sat” in the pews while other students frantically dove to the ground to take cover.
Westman fired indiscriminately through a stained glass window at the church. He unloaded 116 rifle rounds and attempted to fire a shot from a handgun, but it backfired.
The transgender shooter turned the gun on himself before authorities could reach him.
Here’s what we know about the Catholic school shooting in Minneapolis
- Students had begun their first week of school at the Annunciation Catholic School in Minneapolis, Minnesota, two days before the shooting.
- Robin Westman, a 23-year-old trans woman, opened fire through the stained glass windows on Wednesday morning during a celebratory back-to-school Mass filled with children.
- The shooting killed two children and injured at least 17 others, before Westman died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
- Westman had written “kill Donald Trump” and “for the children” on gun magazines, and posted videos of a handwritten manifesto.
- Westman’s mother had worked at the school.
Eighteen others were injured and one child is still in critical condition at a nearby hospital.
Police have tried to reach Westman’s mother, Mary Grace Westman, who used to work at the Annunciation Church and Catholic School.
Authorities are still trying to determine a motive using “hundreds” of pieces of evidence, including electronic devices retrieved from three residences connected to Westman.
They are also using Westman’s YouTube channel, where he posted multiple videos and shared the contents of his crazed manifesto filled to the brim with deranged desires to eliminate anyone from “Zionists” to people of color.
