A federal agent walks along a long line of law enforcement and first response cars as police respond to a shooting at Annunciation School that left two children dead and several others injured Wednesday, Aug. 27, 2025. (Photo by Nicole Neri/Minnesota Reformer)
In the hours after a shooter opened fire on a south Minneapolis church, killing two children and injuring 17 others before apparently dying by suicide, elected officials offered thoughts and prayers — and in some cases, calls for policy change.
“Don’t just say this is about thoughts and prayers right now,” Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey said in a Wednesday morning press conference. “These kids were literally praying.”
Gov. Tim Walz said the state is “heartbroken” in a post to social media: “From the officers responding, to the clergy and teachers providing comfort, to the hospital staff saving lives, we will get through this together.”
State Sen. Zaynab Mohamed, DFL-Minneapolis, whose district includes Annunciation Church, told MPR News that the church is a “pillar in the community.”
“I just keep thinking about how this is supposed to be the best week for these kids. It’s the first week of school for them, for their teachers, for their families … for that to have been taken away, and for this event to shape the rest of their lives, I think that’s devastating,” Mohamed said.
Democratic U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar said on MSNBC that one of her longtime staff members is the parent of three children who were attending Mass when bullets exploded through the stained glass windows.
Klobuchar said the details of how the shooter acquired the guns are still unknown.
But, “(It) makes me think about guns and all the work we’ve done to ban these automatic rifles and to do something when it comes to the background checks and everything,” Klobuchar said. “And we keep getting thwarted. We were able to pass a limited measure on a bipartisan basis but not enough to stop something like this.”
Minnesota passed significant gun control legislation in 2023, creating a “red flag law” and expanding background checks.
Senate Minority Leader Mark Johnson, R-East Grand Forks, said Minnesotans stand together against “these violent acts and the wicked individuals who perpetrate them.”
“My heart is breaking at the news this morning, and my prayers are with everyone who is affected. There is no place for this kind of violence, and attacks on a sacred place and children are especially egregious,” Johnson said in a statement.
State senators from Minneapolis thanked first responders, offered condolences to the affected families and said they will “recommit ourselves to solutions to address the epidemic of gun violence and keep our children and communities safe.”
The state House delegation from Minneapolis said “we cannot accept a world where people face the threat of gun violence as they go about their daily lives.”
President Donald Trump and Walz both ordered flags at half-staff to honor the victims of the shooting.
The Democratic National Committee, which has been meeting in Minneapolis this week, called off its final general session due to the shooting — but not before Bishop Leah Daughtry led the assembly in prayer:
“We bring our tears, our confusion, our pain, our anger and our grief — for lives snatched away too soon, for families and friends left devastated for the forces of hatred in earth — such painful actions. And we ask: How long, oh Lord, how long will our nation allow such hatred to reign unchecked?”