From Global News.

The grieving father of eight-year-old Fletcher Merkel has spoken out after his son was killed Wednesday during a mass shooting at the Annunciation Catholic Church in Minnesota, Minn.

“A coward decided to take our eight-year-old son Fletcher away from us,” Jesse Merkel told reporters Thursday.

“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 added.

Merkel expressed his thanks to local authorities for tending to the active shooting scene, and later sent well wishes to the surviving victims and the family of the other child killed in the onslaught – 10 -year-old Harper Moyski.

Assailant Robin Westman, 23, intended to “terrorize” children, according to police, and shot through a window at the church – killing both Merkel and Moyski and wounding 18 others – before taking their own life.

For more info, please go to https://globalnews.ca/news/11354490/minnesota-church-shooting-survivor-weston-halsne/

Subscribe to Global News Channel HERE: http://bit.ly/20fcXDc
Like Global News on Facebook HERE: http://bit.ly/255GMJQ
Follow Global News on X HERE: http://bit.ly/1Toz8mt
Follow Global News on Instagram HERE: https://bit.ly/2QZaZIB
#GlobalNews #Minnesota #MassShootings #GunControl