MINNEAPOLIS – Laura DuSchane had just walked her 3-year-old son, Rory, across the street to Annunciation Catholic School for his third day of preschool on what should have been an ordinary Wednesday morning.
Back in her south Minneapolis home, DuSchane, who is eight months pregnant, settled onto the couch when the sound tore through the quiet. A rapid, relentless popping – gunfire, unmistakable. She leapt up, heart pounding. The bursts came in fast succession, unbroken for nearly five minutes. To her, it felt like eternity.
She flung open the back door, scrambled onto a table in the yard, straining for a glimpse over fences. Smoke drifted over Annunciation Church, clouding the stone façade. Neighbors stood frozen on their porches, faces drained of color…