Vice President JD Vance and Second Lady Usha Vance traveled to Minneapolis on September 3 to meet with the families and survivors of the tragic shooting at Annunciation Catholic Church. The visit followed the deadly August 27 attack, where a gunman opened fire during a school Mass, killing two young children and injuring 21 others.
The gunman, identified as 23-year-old Robert Westman, entered Annunciation Catholic School during a morning liturgy service and began shooting indiscriminately. The victims included children, staff, and parishioners. Two children, ages 8 and 10, were killed instantly. Seventeen of the injured remain hospitalized, with several in critical condition.
The Vances met privately with grieving families inside the parish rectory and spent over an hour in quiet conversation with school staff and first responders. No media were present during the meetings. Outside the church, they laid flowers at a growing memorial of candles, photos, and handwritten notes. A moment of silence was observed.
Archbishop Bernard Hebda of the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis commented on the Vice President meeting with the families of the tragic shooting, saying, “For them to have the opportunity to share, up close, with the vice president and his wife, as they’ve done with our governor and our senator and our mayor, I think is a great opportunity to educate about what occurred and then to begin planning for how we can move forward.”
Annunciation Catholic Church, a fixture in south Minneapolis since 1922, has reopened for Mass and community support services. Catholic Charities and the local diocese are providing trauma counseling and financial aid to victims’ families.
