The father of one of two schoolchildren fatally shot in a Minneapolis church spoke out for the first time on Thursday afternoon, imploring the shaken community to remember the eight-year-old by the life he led rather than by how he was killed.

Fletcher Merkel was killed on Wednesday morning when a shooter opened fire at a Mass that hundreds of students at Annunciation Catholic School attended, his father, Jesse Merkel, said Thursday, tearfully reading a statement outside of the church where his son was killed.

Merkel said Fletcher loved his family and friends and enjoyed fishing, cooking and playing any sport.

Because of the shooter’s actions, Merkel said, “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

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