Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey on Friday praised city staff from multiple departments for the immediate and ongoing response to the mass shooting at Annunciation Catholic Church.

"I'm proud of the performance of the last several days, and we also know that it's not over yet," Frey said.

Two children were killed and 18 other people injured — most of them also children — when a shooter fired through the windows of Annunciation during a school Mass Wednesday morning. At least one injured child is still in critical condition. Family members have identified the deceased children as 8-year-old Fletcher Merkel and 10-year-old Harper Moyski. The shooter died by suicide.

A day before that, an unrelated mass shooting about four miles from Annunciation killed one person and injured six others.

The mayor was joined by representatives from the Office of Community Safety, the Emergency Management Department and the police force on Friday. 

Frey said years of preparation went into the response to Wednesday's shooting.

"Following the events of 2020, we as a city did not sit back on our hands," he said. "We did everything possible to improve emergency management and crisis response."

Part of that preparation was a trip to Maryland for several days of simulated crises, coordinated by the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

"Those simulations, that collective work and the stick-to-it-ness that we showed in the years following helped to prepare us for emergencies of any kind," Frey said.

Officials have said police responded to Annunciation within minutes of the shooting, and medical personnel followed soon after. Frey highlighted their efforts, as well as the Emergency Management Department's support of both first responders and affected families and community members.

Emergency Management Director Rachel Sayre said her staff continues to offer hot meals, mental health and spiritual support and more to those impacted by the shooting. She also highlighted state funds available through the Office of Justice Programs.

"If you were at the scene, if you worked in the church, if you were a neighbor that witnessed what happened, if you were a witness in the immediate area, you have the ability to access funds that will help you recover," Sayre said.

It wasn't just the official response that saved lives that day, Frey said. It was ordinary people who were in the church or ran to the scene in the aftermath.

"They saved lives. They jumped on the backs of their closest friends to make sure that they were protected from bullets and they escorted students out of the way to make sure they weren't hit by fire," he said. "The staff of Annunciation, the families at Annunciation, they are heroes. They deserve our full support right now because they represent the very best of Minneapolis."

Christopher Gaiters, the police department's assistant chief of community trust, said there will be extra patrols for schools and places of worship over the next several days, fueled by officers working overtime and support from other agencies.

"We recognize that people want to be reassured that our community's going to be safe, that our children are going to be safe," Gaiters said.

Though Gaiters declined to share much on the investigation into the Annunciation shooting, he did say "there has been conversation" with the shooter's mother.

All of the officials at Friday's news conference also thanked the community, both those at Annunciation on Wednesday and those who have offered support in varying forms in the days since.

"People have showed so much love to each other during the most tragic of situations," Frey said. "We are a greater Minneapolis family. Annunciation is a huge part of that family. When tough times arise for families, those families stick together."