In a way, Minnesota Lynx head coach Cheryl Reeve was at a loss for words on Wednesday following a horrific mass shooting at a school that sits just a few miles down the road from the Target Center.
As brutal as that issue has become in recent years, and the lack of any real change she's seen at the federal level when it comes to mass shootings like this one, she knows it’s not going to get any better.
“The sad thing is we can’t sit here and tell them that help is on the way, because we’re not going to do a damn thing about it,” Reeve said, via ZoneCoverage's Andrew Dukowitz.
A shooter opened fire at Annunciation Church in south Minneapolis during a morning service with students on Wednesday, according to the Minneapolis Star Tribune. Two children, ages 8 and 10, were killed. Seventeen others, 14 of which were children, were injured. The shooter died by suicide.
The church and Catholic school sit a little more than six miles south of the Target Center and downtown Minneapolis.
The Lynx joined other teams throughout the Twin Cities in releasing a statement in the immediate aftermath.
“We are deeply heartbroken by the tragic shooting that occurred this morning during a school mass in our Minneapolis community,” the team wrote, in part, in a joint statement with the Minnesota Timberwolves. “Our thoughts and deepest sympathies are with the victims, their families and everyone whose lives have been forever changed by this senseless act of violence.
“As members of this community, we stand together in mourning. No child should ever feel unsafe in a palace of learning or worship, and no family should have to endure such unimaginable loss.”
Reeve called out the United States as a whole on Wednesday while condemning the shooting, which was just the latest such mass shooting throughout the country. This year alone, according to the Gun Violence Archive, there have been 286.
Reeve’s comments echoed similar comments made by others in similar positions in the basketball world after other mass shootings in recent years, too. Longtime San Antonio Spurs coach Gregg Popovich was perhaps the most outspoken coach in the league about gun violence before he retired, and Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr frequently followed his lead.
“When we would go to school, we trained for tornadoes. Kids today train for active shooters. It’s such an indictment of our society and our lack of regard for life,” Reeve said.
“There are things that we can do about it, and we don't. But for some reason as Americans, we value something different. It’s sickening, it’s sad for the kids. It’s sad for the kids that have to grow up like this, sad for kids to walk through the door [of a school] and not know what’s going to happen to them.”
The Lynx, who hold the best record in the WNBA, will host the Seattle Storm on Thursday night.
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