MINNEAPOLIS – Mass is ongoing, commemorating the beginning of the school year at the Announcement Catholic School, when bullets began to arrive through glass.
The shooting that killed two students and injured more than 12 others, which happened because the mass was celebrated, is something Pastor Dennis Seelen still reflects.
“I will look back on that for the rest of my life,” Zeelen said in a statement before Saturday’s Mass. “That’s something I can’t see.”
Seelen, who was in the Announcement Catholic Church in Wednesday’s shooting, remembers rushing towards the sound of a bullet and hopes to be able to help in some way.
“If I got between those bullets and the kids, that’s what I wanted to do,” Zehren said.
Students Fletcher Merkel, 8, and 10-year-old Harper Moiskey were killed. The other 15 children, ages 6 to 15, were injured along with three adult parishioners.
Six people remained hospitalized Friday, including children in serious condition and adults in serious condition, Hennepin Healthcare said. Police say all injured victims are expected to survive.
The suspect died of a self-harmed gunshot wound, police said. Authorities have not identified any clear motivations. Joseph Thompson, a US lawyer for the Minnesota area, said the suspect is full of hatred and obsessed with the idea of ​​killing a child.
During Saturday’s mass, held at another campus building from where the shooting occurred, Sehren cried as he recalled a congregation where police described as a semi-automatic rifle and was told to stay when the round rang.
“The voice cried out, down, down, lower. Keep descending. Don’t go down. “When we were there, in that low place, Jesus showed us something. He showed us. I am the Lord here too.”
The Congregation of Seelen wanted evil to be placed in its place.
“Together in that low place, we saw the eyes of darkness and the power of death and evil with Jesus,” he said. “And Jesus said, and he said, “Look, do you not know how weak it is? Do you not know how desperate it is?”
Zehren urged parishioners at their darkest times to welcome the “new light of the day.”
“The small moments of darkness brought light far beyond what we had experienced before,” he said. “I have never experienced this overflow of love, light and hope in years.”
Archbishop Bernard Hebda hoped that returning to Mass after the shooting would help church parishioners and children restore normalcy.
“It’s back to something very familiar to us and I think it’s important,” he said before Saturday’s Mass.
Charlie Lyman, a parishioner whose three children attended the announcement, said after Mass the church has been and has been the source of power for decades for the families and the Southwest Minneapolis community.
“This place instills us a great sense of faith that we are good with each other, help each other and be kind to each other,” said Lyman, who helped the family build the church.
Tess Lada attended Mass along with her 8-year-old daughter, Announcement student Lila Hostettler, and said it was reassuring to hear Zeelen share her feelings.
“Just hearing the emotions in his voice made me feel very good,” she said. “It seemed like they knew that these feelings weren’t running away from anyone. We all feel that, but we can feel them together.”
Dennis Romero reported from Selina Guevara of Minneapolis from San Diego.
