Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) said the daughter of a former staffer witnessed the Minneapolis Catholic school shooting on Wednesday and “had to watch several of her friends get shot” in front of her.
In an interview on MSNBC, the Minnesota Democrat described talking to the former staffer, Kate Nilan, whose three children were in an all-school mass where the shooting took place.
“Talking to her was probably one of the most upsetting things I’ve ever heard,” Klobuchar said.
“Her daughter, who’s seventh grade, was in that church. These kids are doing the all-school mass and had to watch several of her friends get shot — one in the back, one in the neck — and they all got down under the pews,” the senator continued, recounting what her former staffer told her.
“Her daughter, of course, was not shot, but her daughter ended up being the one telling one of the dads of one of the other kids that his daughter had been shot,” she added. “These are her friends. These kids all saw it happen. They were all in that church and just a horrific, horrific thing.”
Police said at least two children were killed — a 10-year-old and an 8-year-old — and two were in critical condition after a gunman opened fire at Annunciation Catholic School Wednesday morning.
Seventeen people were injured in the shooting, including 14 children, according to the local police chief.
The gunman fired through a window, aiming at children sitting in pews during morning mass, according to police. The suspect eventually entered the premises with three weapons, a rifle, pistol and shotgun.
The gunman, in his early 20s, died by suicide, the chief said.
