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Community support continues to pour in at Annunciation
Strong support continues at Annunciation School and Church after the horrific shooting. FOX 9's Soyoung Kim has more.
MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) - Crowds visited the Annunciation Catholic Church and School’s campus to pay their respects Sunday.
Church services were temporarily moved and held in the auditorium over the weekend.
Tight-knit community shattered
The backstory:
Wednesday’s deadly shooting at Annunciation Church in Minneapolis took the lives of two children and left many others injured.
Local perspective:
Prayers and songs could be heard inside a packed auditorium where the Annunciation Catholic Church mass was held Sunday morning.
Outside the church, a steady stream of crowds stopped by all weekend. The memorial now wraps around the building. The community gathered to grieve near the scene of the tragic shooting.
Many people who stopped by the campus in south Minneapolis said they have some connection to the tight-knit community, so it hits too close to home.
"He was here in the church. He’s got two young boys that come here. It’s tragic. It’s just unthinkable," said Jean, a community member. "We never had any fear, nothing like this ever happened. When I went there all the families, everybody knew everybody, watched out for everybody else’s child."
"It’s important to honor Fletcher and Harper and all the other victims," said Jenna Martin, a community member. "My mom went to this church, and I have a lot of friends who grew up going to this school and church, and know people who have kids here too. I have two boys who are six and eight, so it’s close to all of us in different ways."
"My heart was just heavy today, so I decided to drive down and pray. I’ve gone to mass here. My dad laid stone in this church. I still feel awful. I can’t even describe how I feel about it," said Denise Zupko, a community member.
"To say it rocks the community is an understatement," said Brian, a community member.
What's next:
A spokesperson with the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis said there is no update on when Annunciation school is going to resume. They said they plan to notify families and staff first.
The Source: Annunciation Catholic Church, Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis, Interviews, previous Fox 9 reporting