The two students killed in the Mass shooting at the Annunciation Catholic School were an 8 -year -old boy who loved fishing and cooking and a 10 -year -old girl known for their laughter and kindness.
Fletcher Merkel, 8, and Harper Moyski, 10, died when the shooter opened fire through the windows of the Church of the Minneapolis school on Wednesday morning, their families confirmed Thursday.
Fletcher’s father urged parents to “give their children an extra hug” while remembering their son.
A photo without Fletcher Merkel date.
Merkel family
“Yesterday, a coward decided to take our 8 -year -old son, Fletcher, far from us,” said Jesse Merkel during the comments outside the school on Thursday, publicly identifying his son as one of the victims killed in the “act of non -meaningless violence” carried out by a former 23 -year -old student at school. “Due to his actions, we will never allow us to sustain him, talk to him, play with him and see him become the wonderful young woman who was on the way to become.”
Jesse Merkel said his son loved his family, friends, fishing, kitchen “and any sport that was allowed to play.”
The father added: “While the hole in our hearts and lives will never be filled, I hope that over time, our family can find healing. I pray so that the other victim’s family can find an appearance of the same.”
A photo without date of Harper Moyski.
Michael Moyski and Jackie Flavin
Harper’s parents remembered her as “a 10 -year -old girl bright, cheerful and deeply dear whose laughter, kindness and spirit touched all who knew her.”
“Our hearts are broken not only as parents, but also for Harper’s sister, who worshiped her older sister and is afflicting an unimaginable loss,” said his parents, Michael Moyski and Jackie Flavin, in a statement provided to the KSTP station of ABC Minneapolis. “As a family, we are shattered and words cannot capture the depth of our pain.”
The articles that include dolls are placed in a monument in the Annunciation Catholic Church after the shooting at Wednesday, on August 28, 2025, in Minneapolis.
ABBIE Parr/AP
Other eighteen people, including 15 children, were also injured in the shooting and is expected to survive, police said.
The families of the victims praised the response to mass shooting.
Jesse Merkel said he has heard many stories of the “rapid and heroic actions of children and adults equally, from the inside of the church,” he said. “Without these people and their selfless actions, this could have been a tragedy of many more magnitudes. For these people, I am grateful.”
Harper’s parents said that “they also cry for our Annunciation family in the duel and for those injuries” and that they are “grateful for the staff and the first to respond that they did much for so many yesterday.”
Jesse Merkel, the father of Fletcher Merkel, 8, speaks outside the Catholic Church Annunciation in Minneapolis, August 28, 2025.
KSSTP
Jesse Merkel asked him to give their children “an extra hug and kiss today” and that his son is remembered “by the person he was, and not the act that ended his life.”
Harper’s parents said it is important that their daughter’s memory “feeds action” while implying significant change to avoid similar tragedy and “work towards a safer and more compassionate world.”
“No family should have to endure this type of pain,” they said. “We urge our leaders and communities to take significant measures to address armed violence and mental health crisis in this country. Change is possible, and necessary, so Harper’s story does not become another a long line of tragedies.”
People visit a monument to yesterday’s shooting victims in front of the Annunciation Catholic Church on August 28, 2025 in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Scott Olson/Getty Images
The shooting occurred during a mass that marked the first week of school, police said.
The shooter, identified as Robin Westman, 23, died at the scene of a self -inflicted gunshot wound, police said. Westman had attended school, and Westman’s mother previously worked in the parish, police said.
A reason remains under investigation, and the police said they have not identified a specific trigger for why church children were attacked.
The researchers determined that Westman “housed a lot of hatred towards a wide variety of people and groups of people”, and also “had an obsession upset with the previous mass handles,” said the Minneapolis police chief on Thursday, Brian O’Hara, ABC News Live.
