Area Catholic leaders on alert after Minn. school shooting

Leaders in the Pittsburgh and Greensburg Catholic Diocese addressed the tragedy Wednesday.

By TOM DAVIDSON
TribLive

A Pittsburgh-area native leads the Minneapolis-St. Paul archdiocese, where gunfire during a back-to-school Mass Wednesday killed two students and injured more than a dozen others.

Archbishop Bernard Hebda grew up in Brookline. His counterpart in Pittsburgh, Bishop Mark Eckman, offered prayers for Hebda and everyone else reeling from the latest school shooting as he also attempted to assure parents the diocese was doing everything it could to keep students at diocesan Catholic schools safe.

The Pittsburgh leaders were gathering Wednesday in a conference room at the diocesan offices in Pittsburgh’s East Carnegie neighborhood when Wendell Hissrich summoned Bishop Mark Eckman outside.

Push alerts on cellphones signaled what Hissrich was talking about as word spread of the shooting that killed two Catholic elementary school students and left more than a dozen others hurt. The gunman fired shots from outside Annunciation Church, where students at the parish school were gathered for a Mass to open the school year.

Hissrich was Pittsburgh’s public safety director during the 2018 mass shooting at Tree of Life synagogue in Squirrel Hill. Now, he’s director of safety and security for the diocese.

“Every one of these is a tragedy with many innocent victims,” Hissrich said during an informal gaggle with reporters who were covering the release of the 2025 report on schools in the diocese.

The diocese formed its own school police force last year and there are 24 full time officers spread among 43 Catholic schools in Allegheny, Butler, Beaver, Lawrence, Washington and Greene counties.

“We immediately reached out to all of our officers,” Hissrich said.

They were asked be on heightened alert. Allegheny County’s and other municipal police forces were also contacted and extra patrols were made around Catholic schools as a precaution.

Eckman led prayers for those in Minnesota, including Hebda.

Eckman and Hebda were classmates at the former South Hills High School.

“Our prayers go out to him as well as he shepherds his people through this tragic event,” Eckman said.

He called the shooting a nightmare for parents and said Catholic school leaders are doing what they can to assure parents that safety of students is a top priority. Teachers and staff will also do what they can to help students feel safe, Eckman said.

In a statement, Diocese of Greensburg Bishop Larry J. Kulick said, “I am saddened to hear about the tragic shooting this morning at Annunciation Catholic Church and School in South Minneapolis, Minnesota as students were attending an opening Mass to begin their school year. Please join me in praying for the victims, the injured, and all affected. Protection of our students in these times is paramount in the Catholic Schools of the Diocese of Greensburg, which is why I am grateful for our Diocesan Police Department through which trained police officers provide protection and safety for our children in our schools.”