A young girl who lived through the school shooting at a Minneapolis Catholic institution is experiencing profound fear and has shared a heartbreaking truth with her father following the tragic event.
Two children lost their lives when a gunman attacked while students were in the midst of praying during a Mass marking their return to school. An additional 17 individuals sustained injuries, 14 of whom were children.
Eleven-year-old Chloe Francoual, a sixth-grade student at Annunciation School, is deeply affected by the incident, her father Vincent Francoual, who hails from France, informed “CUOMO.”
He said his daughter made a devastating comment after surviving the shooting.
School shooting survivor left traumatized
“We just came back from France, and sometimes we joke we’re going to move back,” Francoual said. “And she never wanted to do it.
“And the first thing that she said on the way home was, ‘I want to move back to France. I don’t want to go to school.'”
After bringing Chloe back home, Francoual attempted to take the dog for a walk, but Chloe was too terrified to let him step outside.
“She started to lock everything in the house, close all the windows,” Francoual said.
“We tried to take it minute-by-minute. She made us promise that we won’t hide anything from what happened today.”
Vincent Francoual feared school shooting
A year prior, Francoual had discussed with his wife his worries about school shootings, despite having lived in the U.S. for several years.
“I told her, ‘Every day you drop your children at school, you hope you’ll see them again,'” he said. “Sadly, today it became a reality.”
Police identified the shooter as Robin Westman and said the guns used in the shooting were recently purchased and legal.
Francoual said the aftermath won’t be easy but he’s glad to have people around him who will help the family cope.
“We’re going to take this one day at a time. It’s a great community, the administration. It’s like a small village in a big city,” he said.
