Children slain in shooting named as ‘shattered’ parents share tributes
The two children killed in the mass shooting at a school church service in Minneapolis have been identified, with one of the families making a heartfelt appeal.
The two children killed in the mass shooting at a school church service in Minneapolis have been identified by family members as eight-year-old Fletcher Merkel and ten-year-old Harper Moyski.
The children were shot and killed after 23-year-old Robin Westman opened fire through the stained glass windows of Annunciation Church and Catholic School during a welcome Mass for the new school year.
Jessie Merkel, Fletcher’s father, struggled to fathom how the actions of such a “coward” could have taken his son away.
“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 at a press conference.
“Fletcher loved his family, friends, fishing, cooking, and any sports that he was allowed to play. While the hole in our hearts and lives will never be filled, I hope that in time, our family can find healing.
“I’ve heard many stories accounting the swift and heroic actions of children and adults alike from inside the church. Without these people and their selfless actions, this could have been a tragedy of many magnitudes more. For these people, I am thankful.”
The distraught parents of Harper Moyski remembered their “deeply loved” 10-year-old as a bright and joyful youngster.
The little girl’s family shared a statement honouring their daughter and pleading with politicians 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.
SHOOTER’S DISTURBING CONFESSION
Transgender mass shooter Robin Westman confessed that he “was tired of being trans” and wished he “never brainwashed” himself in a manifesto posted online before he slaughtered two children and wounded dozens more at a Minneapolis church.
In a twisted handwritten journal he shared on YouTube before the massacre — much of which is encrypted in a homespun code of Russian Cyrillic script and English words — Westman groaned about his long hair and his decision to transition.
“I only keep [the long hair] because it is pretty much my last shred of being trans. I am tired of being trans, I wish I never brainwashed myself,” he wrote, according to a translation by The New York Post.
“I can’t cut my hair now as it would be embarrassing defeat, and it might be a concerning change of character that could get me reported. It just always gets in my way. I will probably chop it on the day of the attack,” said Westman, 23, who opened fire on the Annunciation Catholic Church and School while students were praying, killing two kids and wounding 17 others before taking his own life.
Westman applied to change his birth name from Robert to Robin in Dakota County, Minnesota, when he was 17 years old, according to court documents. That name change was granted in January 2020. The petition noted that Westman “identifies as a female and wants her name to reflect that identification.”
But, five years later, he seemed to have shrunk away from his new identity, scribbling on another page of the notebook “I don’t want to dress girly all the time but I guess sometimes I really like it. I know I am not a woman but I definitely don’t feel like a man.”
As a child, Westman used to horrify classmates by walking around saying ‘Praise Hitler,” according to a former friend who denounced him as “demonic.”
Josefina Sanchez said she is still tormented by how “erratic” and “off” Westman was when they were briefly friends in seventh-grade at a school in St Paul, Minnesota.
“He would put up his hand and say, like, ‘praise Hitler,’” Sanchez told local outlet KTSP.
It comes as a 13-year-old boy has been identified as one of the 17 people injured when shooter Robin Westman opened fire inside Annunciation Catholic Church in Minneapolis.
“Our son was shot at school today, inside a church praying with his classmates,” his mother, Danielle, told CNN.
Endre Gunter was shot in the stomach when Westman unleashed a barrage of bullets through the church’s stained-glass windows during a celebratory back-to-school mass, killing an 8-year-old and a 10-year-old in the pews.
Gunter underwent surgery and is now recovering.
The FBI said it was investigating the shooting as an “act of domestic terrorism and hate crime targeting Catholics”, its director Kash Patel said in a social media post on X.
“The FBI will continue to provide updates on our ongoing investigation with the public as we are able,” he wrote.
Disturbing videos posted by Westman have emerged, showing “kill Donald Trump” and “for the children” scrawled on gun magazines.
Westman also made vile anti-Semitic rants in a manifesto and wrote slogans such as “Free Palestine” in a journal.
“If I will carry out a racially motivated attack, it would be most likely against filthy Zionist Jews,” the shooter wrote in one vile entry. First lady Melania Trump said she was “shattered” by the “senseless and depraved” deadly shooting at a Minneapolis school’s morning Mass — as she also called for improved screening to spot those signalling plans to carry out such carnage.
“The tragic mass killing in Minnesota illuminates the need for pre-emptive intervention in identifying potential school shooters,” the first lady posted on X, hours after two kids were killed and 17 others injured.
“Early warning signs are often evident, with many individuals exhibiting concerning behaviours and making violent threats online prior to their actions,” she added.
Westman opened fire through the stained glass windows of Annunciation Catholic Church in Minneapolis during a celebratory back-to-school Mass filled with children, around 8.30am local time (11.30pm AEST).
FLOWERS LAID FOR MASS SHOOTING VICTIMS
A vigil of flowers, memorial crosses and candles has started to form at the Academy of Holy Angels, Minnesota, as people pay tribute to the victims of the mass shooting.
Annunciation Catholic School principal Matt DeBoer was among the crowd that gathered.
People embraced each other, while others wrote messages on a makeshift memorial cross.
CHILD VICTIMS TRIED TO PROTECT YOUNGER KIDS
The school’s principal Matthew DeBoer broke down crying as he told a media conference how the heroic older students jumped in to protect younger kids as the bullets rained down.
“We lost two angels today,” Mr DeBoer said, of the eight and 10-year old killed in the shooting.
“Please pray, and don’t stop with your words,” he added.
“This can never, ever happen again.
“I love you,” he told the victims and their families.
“You’re so brave, and I’m so sorry this happened to us today.”
Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara said 14 children aged six to 15 were injured as were three parishioners in their 80s who were also at the church service.
MAYOR PLEADS FOR NO TRANS HATE IN WAKE OF TRAGEDY
Meanwhile, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey praised the teachers who he said prevented a greater loss of life.
Mr Frey said the brave teachers acted “in the face of danger” and the tragedy “could’ve been far worse. ”
The mayor also urged everyone to refrain from taking out anger about the shooting on the trans community.
“I have heard about a whole lot of hate that’s being directed at our trans community,” Mr Frey told reporters.
“Anybody who is using this … as an opportunity to [vilify] our trans community, or any other community out there, has lost their sense of common humanity. We should not be operating out of a place of hate for anyone,” the mayor said.
Mr Frey instead encouraged people to take up the fight for gun control.
Local police said there were at least 20 victims, including two dead, after the suspect, dressed in all black armed with a semiautomatic weapon, stormed the school on the third day of the new term.
Westman later turned the gun on herself.
“(They) just pepper-sprayed through the stained-glass windows into the building, 50 to 100 shots,” a parent told the local newspaper the Star Tribune.
“He killed two kids. This is terrible. This is evil. I don’t know how you defend against this.”
Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem assisted with confirming Westman’s identity, and called the suspect a “deranged monster.”
“This level of violence is unthinkable,” she said.
“Our deepest prayers are with the children, parents, families, educators, and Christians everywhere.
“We mourn with them, we pray for healing, and we will never forget them.”
SHOOTER’S MUM WORKED AT THE SCHOOL
Local media reported Westman’s mother was an employee at the school and that she changed her name from Robert to Robin in 2020, when she was 17.
Police identified the shooter’s mother as Mary Grace Westman, who spent five years working as a secretary at the Annunciation school until she retired in 2021, according to a Facebook post and a blog on the church’s website.
Westman is also a former pupil of the school, graduating in 2017.
Students – including two in a critical condition – are being treated for injuries at the nearby children’s hospital.
Police said despite their wounds, the injured are expected to survive.
DISTURBING YOUTUBE ACCOUNT UNCOVERED
Police are investigating whether a series of YouTube videos shared on an account hours before the shooting was connected to Westman.
The video appeared to show a drawing of a church. It then showed a man stabbing the drawing repeatedly as he quietly says, “I’m going to kill myself.”
In one video, a hand slowly turns the pages of a red notebook, which is laid out on top of what appears to be schematic gun diagrams.
Each page is filled with inscrutable handwritten scrawl, an occasional plume of smoke is seen from the bottom of the screen as the person turning the pages coughs and laughs, according to a report in the New York Post.
KIDS WERE CELEBRATING RETURN TO SCHOOL
Minneapolis police chief Brian O’Hara said the service was “marking the first week of school for children that are attending the Annunciation Catholic school”.
“During the mass, a gunman approached on the outside, on the side of the building and began firing a rifle through the church windows, towards the children sitting in the pews at the mass.” Chief O’Hara said.
“He struck children and worshippers that were inside the building. The shooter was armed with a rifle, a shotgun and a pistol. This was a deliberate act of violence against innocent children and other people worshipping. The sheer cruelty and cowardice of firing into a church full of children is absolutely incomprehensible,” he continued.
“Two young children, ages 8 and 10 were killed where they sat in the pews, their parents have been notified. 17 other people were injured, 14 of them being children. Two of those children are in critical condition. The coward who fired these shots ultimately took his own life in the rear of the church.”
Days before the tragedy unfolded, the school posted a photo of children beaming with excitement as they celebrated their return to the classroom.
TRUMP ORDERS FLAGS TO HALF MAST
US President Donald Trump has ordered all flags be flown at half-staff at the White House, military stations and government buildings “as a mark of respect for the victims of the senseless acts of violence”.
Mr Trump said he had been fully briefed on the tragic shooting.
“The FBI quickly responded and they are on the scene,” he said.
“The White House will continue to monitor this terrible situation. Please join me in praying for everyone involved.”
The flags will be flown at half-mast for the rest of the week until Sunday night to mark the tragedy.
Almost 400 children attend the Annunciation Catholic School in Minneapolis with age groups ranging from pre-Kindergarten to Year 8.
Minnesota Governor Tim Walz said: “I’m praying for our kids and teachers whose first week of school was marred by this horrific act of violence.”
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Originally published as Children slain in shooting named as ‘shattered’ parents share tributes
