{"id":157351,"date":"2025-09-15T01:15:11","date_gmt":"2025-09-15T01:15:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/157351\/"},"modified":"2025-09-15T01:15:11","modified_gmt":"2025-09-15T01:15:11","slug":"mourners-celebrate-life-of-girl-killed-in-shooting-at-minnesota-church","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/157351\/","title":{"rendered":"Mourners celebrate life of girl killed in shooting at Minnesota church"},"content":{"rendered":"

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) \u2014 The mother of a 10-year-old girl killed during a mass shooting<\/a> at a Catholic church in Minneapolis remembered her Sunday as a fierce, curious and funny child who \u201cdidn\u2019t water herself down.\u201d<\/p>\n

Friends, family and others gathered in an outdoor amphitheater by a lake to celebrate Harper Moyski\u2019s life. Speakers also called for people to dedicate themselves to building a less violent American society.<\/p>\n

Harper and another student at Annunciation Catholic School, 8-year-old Fletcher Merkel,<\/a> were killed and 21 others were injured in the Aug. 27 shooting. Authorities said a 23-year-old former student, Robin Westman, was armed with a rifle, pistol and shotgun and fired more<\/a> than a hundred rounds through the church\u2019s windows during a Mass. Westman was found dead of what appeared to be a self-inflicted gunshot.<\/p>\n

Harper\u2019s mother, Jackie Flavin, told the mourners that their support had lifted the family when it felt as if it had been dropped at the bottom of an ocean \u201cwhere it\u2019s pitch black and the pressure is crushing.\u201d She said Harper, who loved dogs and hoped to be a veterinarian, taught them \u201chow to be a light in the dark.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cShe had her own point of view, her own sense of style, her own way of being. She didn\u2019t wait for permission. She didn\u2019t water herself down,\u201d Flavin said. \u201cAnd she really taught us to show up exactly as you are.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Attendees<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

Flavin also called Harper \u201cextra in the very best way.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHarper didn\u2019t do anything halfway,\u201d she said. \u201cAlways choosing the premium versions, always going for the extra scoop.\u201d<\/p>\n

The event in Minneapolis came only four days after the fatal shooting<\/a> of conservative activist and leader Charlie Kirk as he spoke at Utah Valley University. During the celebration of Harper\u2019s life, speakers expressed frustration and anger that gun violence \u2014 particularly shootings that kill schoolchildren \u2014 hasn\u2019t stopped. <\/p>\n

Another extended family member, Rabbi Jason Rodich, urged people to avoid the acrimony of social media and \u201cthe scorched earth of these times.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cTurn just a little to the warm soul beside you,\u201d he said. \u201cDo it for Harper. Do it for you.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"MINNEAPOLIS (AP) \u2014 The mother of a 10-year-old girl killed during a mass shooting at a Catholic church…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":157352,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[23,92678,3071,3827,526,793,7922,75982,75984,95960,16950,6429,6661,3,2229,74731,4382,795,21,19,22,20,25,24],"class_list":["post-157351","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-united-states","tag-america","tag-assassination-of-charlie-kirk","tag-crime","tag-domestic-news","tag-education","tag-general-news","tag-gun-violence","tag-harper-moyski","tag-jackie-flavin","tag-jason-rodich","tag-minneapolis","tag-minnesota","tag-mn-state-wire","tag-news","tag-religion","tag-robin-westman","tag-shootings","tag-u-s-news","tag-united-states","tag-united-states-of-america","tag-unitedstates","tag-unitedstatesofamerica","tag-us","tag-usa"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/157351","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=157351"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/157351\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/157352"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=157351"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=157351"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=157351"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}