Overview

• Vice President JD Vance and Second Lady Usha Vance visited Annunciation Catholic Church, laid flowers at a memorial, met privately with victims' families and church leaders, then went to Children’s Minnesota to see injured students, including 12-year-old Lydia Kaiser.
• At the hospital, Lydia’s father, Harry Kaiser, urged Vance to support bipartisan steps to address mass shootings, saying thoughts and prayers have not been enough and asking for serious study of cultural and policy solutions.
• Vance told reporters the meetings were heartbreaking, asked Americans to pray for hospitalized children, emphasized focusing on the victims rather than the gunman, and said officials should examine root causes and ways to keep would-be attackers from obtaining firearms.
• Dozens of demonstrators near the church chanted for gun safety and an assault‑weapons ban, while some residents criticized the visit as performative given Vance’s past positions and NRA support.
• Gov. Tim Walz signaled plans to call a special session on gun laws as students marched in Minneapolis for stricter measures, while state Republicans pushed priorities like mental-health support and school security funding.