Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey issued a heartfelt plea for compassion and unity Wednesday, following a devastating shooting at Annunciation Catholic School that took the lives of two young children and injured 17 others. Among his remarks, Frey strongly rejected attempts to weaponize the tragedy to stigmatize the transgender community.
The tranquil start of the school year turned into nightmare when the shooter, a 23-year-old transgender individual with longstanding ties to the school, opened fire through stained-glass windows during mass. Investigators are treating the attack as both domestic terrorism and a hate crime targeting the parish community.
“I have heard about a whole lot of hate that’s being directed at our trans community,” Frey said during an afternoon press conference. “Anybody who is using this as an opportunity to villainize our trans community or any other community out there has lost their sense of common humanity. Kids died. This needs to be about them.”
A Community in Shock
At around 8:30 a.m., the gunman, armed with multiple legal firearms, fired into a veiled congregation of students and parishioners. Two young children, ages 8 and 10, were killed instantly. Fourteen other students and three elderly worshippers were wounded; several remain in critical condition. The shooter later died by suicide at the scene.
Authorities revealed disturbing background details: the suspect legally changed their name in 2020 and had familial connections to the school. In the aftermath, videos and writings surfaced online, some bearing trans pride symbols, adding complexity to the investigation into motive.
Refusing Hate in a Time of Grief
Already, online commentators have twisted the attack into transphobic fodder, an effort Frey described as deeply disturbing. He called out those seeking to distort the narrative.
His steadfast defense of trans lives was echoed by the Human Rights Campaign. HRC National Press Secretary Brandon Wolf, who survived the 2016 Pulse nightclub shooting, pointed out the nearly 60 shootings at schools in 2025 alone and argued that lawmakers have blocked gun reforms.
“While we still don’t know all the facts about what happened in Minneapolis, we must be clear on one key element: to scapegoat an entire marginalized community in a moment of such intense national grief is wrong, dangerous, and dehumanizing,” Wolf stated.
A GLAAD spokesperson went on to state, “Families and an entire community are in shock and pain. Our focus must be on them and on taking steps to comfort them and prevent another tragedy,” the spokesperson told The Advocate. “Focusing on the shooter or on misinformation before facts are confirmed does a severe injustice to all impacted. We do know this: gun violence is an epidemic, and the number one killer of children in the U.S.”
The spokesperson went on to say “This marks the fifth school shooting of 2025, as per NBC News. Shootings in Tennessee, Texas, Florida, and California, and countless more in every possible venue. The common thread in all mass shootings is guns and access to guns.”
A Pattern of Violence
This horror comes amid an alarming school safety crisis. With this tragedy, 2025 has seen dozens of shootings in K–12 settings and houses of worship, driven by inadequate gun policies and a failure to address the scourge of firearm access.
Local leaders, including Governor Tim Walz, urged people to transform grief into action. Flags were lowered in state and federal offices, and the community convened in vigil and prayer.
