Stier Statement on Minneapolis Shooting

St. Paul — Representative Terry Stier (R-Belle Plaine), who currently serves as Belle Plaine’s police chief, released the following statement following last Wednesday’s shooting in downtown Minneapolis:

“We cannot accept this kind of violence as normal. There are families tonight dealing with something nobody should ever have to experience, people recovering from injuries, and an entire community trying to understand what happened.

“We don’t have all the facts yet, and I’m not going to pretend we do. Investigators need time to figure out exactly what happened. But when those facts come out, we need to be willing to deal with what they tell us. 

“That’s where our focus should be, rather than immediately falling back into the same political arguments every time something like this happens.

“Minneapolis police officers were also among the victims today. As someone in my profession, that hits close to home. Officers are husbands and wives, moms and dads, sons and daughters. They go about their lives like everyone else, but when something like this happens, they’re the ones expected to run toward it.

“My thoughts and prayers are with everyone affected by this, the families waiting for answers, the people who were hurt, and the officers and first responders who went into a dangerous situation to help.”