Gophers had Minneapolis school shooting on their minds after season-opening win

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The typical excitement surrounding the start of the season at Minnesota was tempered this week, the heaviness of a too-close-to-home tragedy making it harder to fully escape from the outside world at a football game.

After the Gophers beat Buffalo 23-10 at Huntington Bank Stadium on Thursday night, coach P.J. Fleck used the first three minutes of his postgame news conference to express his sadness and outrage on behalf of the team one day after two children at Annunciation Catholic School were shot to death in church. Fifteen other students and three parishioners in their 80s were wounded in the chilling attack in Minneapolis about 8 miles south of the university.

Fletcher Merkel, 8, and Harper Moyski, 10, were killed while sitting in the pews at a special first-week-of-school Mass packed with teachers, parents and schoolchildren.

“We’re thinking about every single person involved in that tragedy — every family member, not just moms and dads. The grandmas and grandpas, aunts and uncles, friends, relatives, neighbors,” Fleck said, his voice cracking with emotion. “It’s unthinkable, and there’s a lot that has to be done. I’m not a politician, nor do I act as one, but there’s a lot of things that need to happen and should happen, and we need to hold people accountable to make sure that happens. These are our kids.”

About 12 hours earlier, a little more than 10 miles south, Vikings coach Kevin O’Connell and general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah were also having a tough time not only processing the tragedy but putting it aside to talk about the relative insignificance of the season-opening roster construction they’d already been scheduled to address reporters about.

O’Connell has four children, including a 10-year-old and an 8-year-old — just like the two kids who were killed.

“It’s impossible for me to wrap my mind around what those parents are feeling, and I’m just absolutely heartbroken for them,” O’Connell said. “No child should ever be lost to violence in any way. We are praying for all those who were injured and hoping they make full and fast recoveries and, also, praying for all those who witnessed the attack.”

Adofo-Mensah has two young sons.

“I pray that we don’t have to start press conferences like this again. I pray that we don’t become numb to these seemingly more frequently occurring things, locally and nationally,” he said. “And I pray that we break some of the divisiveness that’s involved right now, that we’re in this cycle of inactivity towards being able to find solutions to solve some of these issues.”

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