The parents of both children killed during the Annunciation Catholic School shooting have issued their first statements since the attack on 27 August.
Eight-year-old Fletcher Merkel and 10-year-old Harper Moyski were killed when 23-year-old Robin Westman began firing through the windows of Annunciation Church, adjoining the school, hitting children who were inside praying and participating in a school Mass to celebrate the first week of classes after returning to school from the summer break.
During a 28 August press conference outside Annunciation school in Minneapolis, Fletcher’s father, Jesse Merkel, said the hole left in his family’s hearts by his son’s death will never be filled.
He said the family would never be allowed to “watch him grow into the wonderful young man he was on the path to becoming”.
“We ask not for your sympathy, but your empathy as our family and our Annunciation community grieve and try to make sense of such a senseless act of violence,” Merkel said. “Please remember Fletcher for the person he was, and not the act that ended his life.”
He also expressed gratitude for “the swift and heroic actions of children and adults alike” inside the church.
“Give your kids an extra hug and kiss today," he said, before adding: “We love you, Fletcher, and you’ll always be with us.”
Michael Moyski and Jackie Flavin in a statement issued the same day described their daughter Harper as a “bright, joyful, and deeply loved 10-year-old whose laughter, kindness and spirit touched everyone.”
“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.
“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.
“Harper’s light will always shine through us, and we hope her memory inspires others to work toward a safer, more compassionate world.”
The shooter who also shot and injured 17 people was named as Robin Westman, a male who self-identified as a "trans woman". His birth name was Robert. Westman previously applied as a teenager in Dakota County to change his birth name from Robert to Robin, with the request granted in January 2020.
The revelations have led to questions around gender dysphoria and mental health, and whether that should be getting as much attention as the issue of gun violence and accessibility to fire arms in the US, as the country tries to process and understand another horrific mass shooting occuring at a school.
Westman carried out the attack with a rifle – confirmed as a semi-automatic weapon – as well as a shotgun and a pistol. A now-deleted YouTube account believed to belong to Westman featured what is being reported as a type of "manifesto" video that aired hours before the shooting. In the video can be seen a drawing of a church and a person repeatedly stabbing the paper on which it was drawn.
Other video clips posted to the YouTube account show gun parts, a semi-automatic rifle, a shotgun and various gun magazines with messages scrawled on them. One message on a gun magazine reads: “For the children"; another reads: "Where is your God?"
All the while the person videoing can be often heard making rambling incoherent or offensive comments, breathing heavily and sometimes giggling.
The mass shooting at Annunciation appears to be the first of its kind, involving a Catholic school, in the modern era of school shootings that began with the 1999 Columbine High School massacre in Littleton, Colorado, reports OSV News.
The FBI has announced that the school shooting is being investigated as a“hate crime targeting Catholics”.
The wounded include 15 other school children, ages 6 to 15, and three adults in their 80s, reports the BBC. At least one victim remains in critical condition at the hospital.
Vigils have been held across Minneapolis and in the neighbouring city of St Paul, and flags have been ordered to half-mast.
The BBC notes that police have not yet discovered any clear motive for the attack but they say the assailant harboured extreme anti-religious beliefs, and had previously attended the school.
The killer's mother, who worked at the school before retiring, has not responded to law enforcement attempts to contact her.
RELATED: Annunciation school shooting investigated by FBI as ‘hate crime targeting Catholics’
Photo: A man prays the Rosary near a growing memorial outside of Annunciation Catholic Church, Minneapolis, Minnesota, 29 August 2025. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images.)
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