John Lauritsen is an Emmy award-winning reporter from Montevideo, Minn. He joined WCCO-TV in late-July of 2007. Two days after he started, the Interstate 35W bridge collapsed.
Children's Hospital is calling a shooting during a school Mass in Minneapolis early Wednesday morning that killed two children and injured 17 others a "senseless act of violence."
The hospital is a Level 1 Trauma Center, so the staff there are used to emergencies, but Wednesday is a day one provider says they will never forget.
Seven patients were rushed to Children's Hospital after the shooting. As of Wednesday afternoon, the hospital says three kids remain hospitalized.
The grandfather of an 8-year-old girl who was released from care earlier in the day says he raced to her side.
"It's very sad. It should not be this way. People should not have guns," Zuheir Safe said.
Hennepin Healthcare, also a Level 1 Trauma Center, received 11 patients from the shooting, according to Chair of Emergency Medicine Tom Wyatt. Nine of them were children and two were adults. Six children and one adult were in critical condition, and four required an operating room.
"Whenever a type of page like this goes out again, it really puts into motion a lot of big response from all of the teams," Wyatt said. "Because we're a Level 1 Trauma Center, we have to mobilize certain types of resources like operating rooms. We have emergency providers and nurses. We have to mobilize things like the labs and the blood bank. There's a lot of planning and exercises throughout the year to prepare for these events and, unfortunately, we respond to many of them throughout the year. These incidents are never easy. We've had two in the last 24 hours, these mass casualty incidents."
The director of mental health services at Children's Hospital has advice for parents everywhere in dealing with the tragedy.
"Today, one of the most important things is gonna be to be there with a child and provide support," Dr. Sarah Jerstad said. "Depending on the age of the child, some kids may just want to go outside and play, some kids may want to take a break, but many kids are gonna have questions. Many kids are going to have fears and this is such an opportunity for parents to be there and provide comfort. And also, if kids want to know what the plan is, parents need to talk through that. Parents are that safe space for kids."
Jerstad adds that it is OK and important for your kids to see you cry.
"Parents need to be there as a model for their kids to express their own emotions. Parents have feelings, and they don't need to be just OK," Jerstad said. "Kids can see parents are struggling too and it's great for parents to model,'I am feeling sad and scared and I can express my feelings about that too.' It's OK for them to see you cry. It's absolutely OK and it's normal and it's human."
Staff at Children's Hospital will also be getting mental health support.