In the wake of unimaginable loss, two grieving families are turning sorrow into a plea for change—determined that a single violent act will not define their children’s lives.
In a community torn apart by bloodshed inside a sacred space, the families of 8-year-old Fletcher Merkel and 10-year-old Harper Moyski are remembering their children’s boundless spirits and the devastation left behind after a gunman opened fire during a school Mass at Annunciation Catholic Church in Minneapolis.
The lives of Fletcher and Harper were cut short when a 23-year-old former student opened fire through the church’s stained-glass windows. The children were just steps from their classrooms when the attack began. Outside the school, Fletcher’s father, Jesse Merkel, delivered a raw and powerful tribute: “Yesterday, a coward decided to take our eight-year-old son, Fletcher, away from us. Because of their actions, we will never be allowed to hold him, talk to him, play with him, and watch him grow into the wonderful young man he was on the path to becoming.” He described a boy happiest with a fishing pole or in the kitchen, bright and joyful, deeply loved. He asked the public to “remember Fletcher for the person he was and not the act that ended his life,” urging parents everywhere to give their kids “an extra hug and kiss today.”
