“Respect for human life is the starting point for confronting a culture of violence,” Cardinal DiNardo reflected in an Aug. 14 online post mourning the previous day's deaths and other recent shooting incidents across the country.
“May we follow the way of Jesus, the Prince of Peace, in becoming peacemakers in our homes and on our streets,” the cardinal wrote.
According to local police, 35-year-old Thomas Caffall fatally shot Constable Bryan Bachmann, 41, who was serving an eviction notice on Caffall's rental property.
Caffall was killed in the ensuing 30-minute shootout, as was one bystander, 51-year-old Chris Northcliff. Four police officers were wounded, one of whom was in critical condition Tuesday morning.
Caffall's mother issued a statement lamenting the violence, in which she said the shooter “had been ill” recently.
“Our tears and prayers go out to the victims, families and loved ones of those impacted by this tragedy,” Cardinal DiNardo said on his blog the following day.
Similar incidents have plagued the U.S. in recent weeks, including the July 20 mass shooting at a Colorado movie theater that left 12 people dead and 58 injured. Soon after, a gunman and six others died in an Aug. 5 assault on a Sikh temple in Wisconsin.
“In the last several weeks, our nation has seen the loss of many lives due to violence,” Cardinal DiNardo observed in his message.
He asked pastors of the archdiocese, and all local Catholics, “to pray that we may help build greater communities of peace, which are nurtured through a clear commitment to respect for life.”
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