Dallas Wings rookie Paige Bueckers spoke about the school shooting that took place in her home state of Minnesota Wednesday. Two children were killed and 17 other people were wounded at Annunciation Catholic School during a morning Mass.
“I’ve been sending prayers … It’s just really unfortunate,” Bueckers said. “I hope there are stricter gun laws put in place so parents don’t have to worry about sending their kids to school, people don’t have to worry about attending church and all these places are safe. It’s just really unfortunate that gun violence continues to be an issue.”
Before winning a national championship with UConn, Bueckers graduated from Hopkins High School in Minnetonka, a suburb of Minneapolis.
Bueckers is not the only one from the Minneapolis sports world who spoke out. The Minnesota Lynx and Timberwolves put out a joint statement saying, “No child should ever feel unsafe in a place of learning or worship, and no family should endure such unimaginable loss.”
Meanwhile Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve described the situation as “sickening.”
“It’s such an indictment of our society, our lack of regard for life,” she said. “There are things that we can do about it, and we don’t, but for some reason as Americans we value something different. It’s sickening. It’s sad for the kids, it’s sad for the kids that have to grow up like this. It’s sad for the kids to walk through the door and not know what’s going to happen.
“So hearts go out to the lives lost, kids that are hurt, teachers that have to go through this, families that drop their kids off at schools and don’t have their kid come home. Hearts go out to them. The sad thing is we can’t sit here and tell them that help is on the way, because we’re not going to do a damn thing about it”
The Toronto Blue Jays were hosting the Minnesota Twins on Wednesday, and they held a moment of silence ahead of their game. The Twins shared a picture of that moment on social media and thanked the Blue Jays while adding, “This is bigger than baseball.”
The Minnesota Vikings also put out a statement describing the tragedy as a “senseless and cowardly act.”
“We are devastated by the horrific violence that took place at Annunciation Church in Minneapolis this morning,” read the statement. “Our hearts are broken for the victims, their families and all who have been impacted by this senseless and cowardly act. We are praying for the injured, those who witnessed the attack and the first responders who were on the scene providing care and support during this tragedy.”