{"id":162699,"date":"2025-08-31T23:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-08-31T23:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/annunciation-catholic-church-holds-first-mass-since-deadly-minneapolis-school-shooting-nbc-news\/"},"modified":"2025-08-31T23:00:00","modified_gmt":"2025-08-31T23:00:00","slug":"annunciation-catholic-church-holds-first-mass-since-deadly-minneapolis-school-shooting-nbc-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/annunciation-catholic-church-holds-first-mass-since-deadly-minneapolis-school-shooting-nbc-news\/","title":{"rendered":"Annunciation Catholic Church holds first Mass since deadly Minneapolis school shooting – NBC News"},"content":{"rendered":"

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MINNEAPOLIS \u2014 Mass was underway Wednesday morning to mark the beginning of the academic year at Annunciation Catholic School when bullets started flying through the stained glass.
That the shooting, which killed two students and wounded nearly two dozen other people, occurred as Mass was being celebrated is something the Rev. Dennis Zehren is still struggling to process.
\u201cI will be reflecting on that for the rest of my life,\u201d Zehren said in remarks before Saturday\u2019s Mass, the first for the parish since the shooting. \u201cIt\u2019s something I will never be able to unsee.\u201d
Zehren, who was leading Mass on Wednesday at Annunciation Catholic Church, recalled rushing toward the sound of the bullets<\/a>, hopeful that he could help in some way.
\u201cIf I could have got between those bullets and the kids,\u201d Zehren said, \u201cthat\u2019s what I was hoping to do.\u201d
Students Fletcher Merkel, 8, and Harper Moyski, 10,<\/a> were killed. At least 15 other children, ages 6 to 15, were injured alongside three adult parishioners.
Six people remained hospitalized Friday, including a child in critical condition and an adult in serious condition, according to Hennepin Healthcare. Police have said all of the wounded victims are expected to survive.
The suspect died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound, police have said. Authorities have not identified a clear motive<\/a>. Joseph Thompson, acting U.S. attorney for the District of Minnesota, said the suspect was full of hate and was obsessed with the idea of killing children.
On Saturday evening, students and parishioners, eager to pray and mourn together, gathered for the first service since the attack. It was held in the parish’s auditorium, a separate campus building from where the shooting occurred.
Zehren wept as he recalled the congregation being told to stay down as rounds rang out from what police have described as a semiautomatic rifle.<\/a>
\u201cThe voices cried out, down, down, get low. Stay down. Stay down. Don\u2019t get up,\u201d he said. \u201cWhen we were down there, in that low place, Jesus showed us something. He showed us, I am the Lord, even here.\u201d
The congregation, Zehren hoped, put evil in its place.
\u201cTogether in that low place, we looked with Jesus into the eyes of the forces of darkness and death and evil,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd Jesus pointed, and he said, \u2018See, can\u2019t you see how weak it is? Can\u2019t you see how desperate it is? Can\u2019t you see that this can never last?\u2019\u201d
Zehren urged parishioners in their darkest hour to welcome the \u201clight of a new day.\u201d
\u201cOne little moment of darkness has brought forth a light that is far beyond anything we\u2019ve experienced before,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019ve never in all my years experienced such an outpouring of love and light and hope.\u201d
Archbishop Bernard Hebda hoped that returning to Mass after the shooting would help the church\u2019s parishioners and children reclaim a sense of normality.
\u201cIt\u2019s that return to those things that are so familiar to us that I think is important,\u201d he said before Saturday\u2019s service.
Charlie Lyman, a parishioner whose three children attended Annunciation, said after Mass that the church has been a source of strength for family and the Southwest Minneapolis community for decades and will remain so.
\u201cThis place instills in us a sense of great faith to be good to one another, to help each other, to be kind to one another,\u201d said Lyman, whose family helped build the church.
Tess Rada attended the Mass with her 8-year-old daughter, Lila Hostetler, a student at Annunciation, and said it was reassuring to hear Zehren share his feelings.
\u201cJust hearing the emotion in his voice was very \u2014\u00a0it was nice,\u201d she said. \u201cIt was like, you know these emotions aren\u2019t escaping anyone. We all feel it, but we can feel it together.\u201d
Dennis Romero reported from San Diego, and Selina Guevara and Maggie Vespa from Minneapolis.<\/em>
Dennis Romero is a breaking news reporter for NBC News Digital.
Selina Guevara is an NBC News associate producer, based in Chicago.
NBC News Correspondent
© 2025 NBCUniversal Media, LLC<\/p>\n

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