Community gathers in Minneapolis to remember Annunciation victims a year after shooting

Dozens gathered at Pearl Park in Minneapolis on Thursday to drop off food, plant trees and assemble care packages for homeless youth in memory of the children and families scarred by the deadly mass shooting at Annunciation Church and School one year ago.

The public remembrance took place a mile from the church and school in the southwest part of the city. The Annunciation community attended a private service in the church, which rang its bells at 8:26 a.m. — to mark the moment the attack started — to honor 8-year-old Fletcher Merkel and 10-year-old Harper Moyski, who were killed in the shooting.

The shooting wounded 29 other people, and the shooter died by suicide at the scene.

Christine Anderson, whose two grandchildren were at Annunciation the day of the attack, said she spent all Thursday morning at Annunciation helping students decorate cookies for first responders before she went to the public remembrance to join others in healing.

“We have a hopeful path into the future,” Anderson, 73, said. “We are all in this together, and the connectedness I’ve felt with this community has been important to me.”

Andrea Anschel, 45, and her daughter Coraline, 6, joined volunteers in breaking up soil near the park to plant trees.

“Something that comes out of devastating events is, it brings people together,” said Anschel, who lives less than a mile from Annunciation. “It starts a conversation. It has allowed us to talk about really hard things in community.”

The mass shooting rocked the community and the state of Minnesota, driving some Annunciation parents whose children were injured to publicly advocate for better school safety measures and for stringent gun control laws.

Hours after the shooting, Minnesota Democrats and families of Annunciation victims began to publicly call for a ban on assault-style weapons and other gun control measures. Gov. Tim Walz said he would call a special session to pass gun control measures, but Republicans and some Democrats resisted, and Walz backed down.

During the regular legislative session earlier this year, Democrats renewed their gun control campaign. The Minnesota House is tied between Republicans and Democrats, and House Speaker Lisa Demuth — who is also the Republican nominee for governor — used legislative procedure to block the legislation. The parents of one of the slain Annunciation students accused Demuth of breaking a promise to allow a gun control vote on the House floor.

Some Annunciation parents have pledged to continue pushing for stricter gun control measures at the next legislative session. Additional gun control bills, like an assault weapons ban, are unlikely to pass unless Democrats win majorities in the Minnesota House and Senate and win the governorship in November.

“I didn’t feel like we got far enough” on gun policy change, said Anschel, whose three young kids don’t attend Annunciation but who is close to several families directly impacted.

In a break between digging into soil, Anschel said that, for her, being “in action is always better versus sitting making calls” — though she’s also made calls to the Legislature.

Retired educator Katie Johnson, 75, attended the remembrance because she said it was so painful to see young people hurt after working with students for decades.

“We wanted to honor everyone involved and everyone who will continue to suffer this trauma for the rest of their lives,” Johnson said.

Elected officials were also in attendance, including state Rep. Emma Greenman, Minneapolis mayor Jacob Frey and Minneapolis City Council Member Jamison Whiting.

A previous version of this story misstated Andrea Anschel’s first name.