Minnesota school shooting came after bishops’ pleas for security went unanswered

National Catholic Register, Aug 28, 2025 / 06:00 am

After a pair of out-of-state school shootings in 2022 and 2023 shocked the nation, Minnesota’s bishops implored state lawmakers to provide security funding for local nonpublic schools.

Now, two years after their appeals went unheeded, tragedy has struck one of their own.

On the morning of Aug. 27, a gunman opened fire during an all-school Mass at Annunciation Catholic Church in Minneapolis, killing two students, aged 10 and 8; 14 other students and three adults were injured.

The tragedy comes after the Minnesota Catholic Conference (MCC), the public policy voice of Minnesota’s six dioceses, made requests to state officials to extend funds for security upgrades and emergency-response training to nonpublic schools in both 2022 and 2023.