In a statement released on February 21, Bishop Paul Bradley of the Catholic Diocese of Kalamazoo called for an end to all forms of violence, following the barbaric mass shootings in Kalamazoo. Six people were brutally killed and some two others seriously injured by a gunman in the western Michigan city.
Expressing grief and sadness, Bishop Paul held a special Mass Monday at St Augustine Cathedral, to pray for the victims of Saturday’s shooting.
During his homily, he said, “We come together to place all our worries, sorrows, fears and all our questions in God’s hands. He is the one who knows the answers to all our questions. He is the one who will give us the comfort and consolation for which we all long.”
45-year-old Jason Brian Dalton who has no criminal record was on a shooting spree and fired random shoots that left six people dead at different times.
“The rampage began about 6 p.m. Saturday outside an apartment complex on the eastern edge of the Kalamazoo County, where a woman was shot multiple times and seriously wounded,” the Washington Post reported. “A little more than four hours later and 15 miles away, a father and son were fatally shot while looking at vehicles at a car dealership. The last incident occurred 15 minutes later when five women were shot outside of a restaurant. Four of the women died while a 14-year-old girl was hospitalized in serious condition.
Dalton was taken into custody by police Sunday morning. He was arraigned the afternoon of Feb. 22 on more than a dozen charges, including murder and attempted murder.
Bishop Bradley said in his February 21 statement. “May they live forever with God in the life of the world to come.”
The bishop offered prayers for the families of Saturday night’s random shooting in Kalamazoo and for the families of the perpetrator.
“And yes we pray for him as well.”
Bishop Bradley offered a prayer that God would show him mercy and touch his heart.
Nothing fails like prayer. Instead of wasting time promoting the world’s biggest placebo, act to get at the roots of the violence problem: poor gun control, poor mental healthcare, poverty, economic deserts, failed schools, et al.