According to news reports, six people, including the gunman were killed Wednesday at the city’s sprawling Molson Coors Campus
(NASHVILLE, TN) February 28, 2020 — While details continue to unfold, news outlets are reporting that five people were shot and killed at the Molson Coors Campus in Milwaukee, WI after an employee opened fire at the iconic brewery late on Wednesday night. The horrific shooting comes just one year after the tragic mass shooting in Aurora, IL during which a disgruntled employee shot and killed five individuals and wounded many others. Sadly, this latest shooting is yet another reminder that no community or space is immune from the gun violence that takes nearly 100 American lives every single day and wounds hundreds more. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, in an average year, there are over 351 workplace shootings in the U.S.
Rev. Dr. Rob Schenck, a long-time Christian minister to top government officials in Washington, DC, president of The Dietrich Bonhoeffer Institute, and a spokesperson for Prayers & Action, along with Dr. Jamie Aten, founder and executive director of The Humanitarian Disaster Institute at Wheaton College, spokesperson for Prayers & Action and disaster psychologist, responded along with other prominent faith leaders and groups today urging our nation to bring an end to the gun violence epidemic in America.
STATEMENT FROM REV. DR. ROB SCHENCK
“Once again, an American community has been torn apart by senseless gun violence. This latest mass shooting in Milwaukee cannot be dismissed as ‘just another day in America.’ Mass fatalities, wanton murder, and gunfire bringing instant death, and the community trauma that results is inevitable and cannot be normalized. Americans should all be free to live and work without fear of being shot at our place of business. We must act to stop this terrifying trend. God be with the victims and loved ones.”
STATEMENT FROM DR. JAMIE ATEN
“After yesterday’s tragic mass shooting at the Coors campus in Milwaukee, I am grieving with and praying for all those impacted and mourning the loss of loved ones. It’s barely been a year since the mass shooting at the Henry Pratt warehouse just a few miles down the road from me in Aurora, IL, and together these events remind us that no community or space is immune to gun violence—from our cities to our houses of worship and our workplaces. It can be easy to grow numb to what feels like a neverending succession of mass shootings, but it’s important that we continue to respond with compassion, love, and a renewed commitment to offer both our prayers and our action to ending the epidemic of mass gun violence in America.”
ABOUT REV. DR. ROB SCHENCK
Dr. Rev. Rob Schenck is an ordained evangelical minister and president of the Dietrich Bonhoeffer Institute, located in Washington, DC. He is the author of Costly Grace: An Evangelical Minister’s Rediscovery of Faith, Hope, and Love (HarperCollins, June 5, 2018). Rev. Schenck is also a spokesperson for Prayers & Action, a coalition of today’s most prominent evangelical leaders, pastors, churches and organizations dedicated to ending gun violence through prayer and action.
ABOUT DR. JAMIE ATEN
Jamie Aten, Ph.D., is the Founder and Executive Director of the Humanitarian Disaster Institute and Blanchard Chair of Humanitarian & Disaster Leadership at Wheaton College (Wheaton, IL). He is a disaster psychologist and ministry expert, as well as a spokesperson for Prayers & Action. His most recent book is A Walking Disaster: What Surviving Katrina and Cancer Taught Me About Faith and Resilience (Templeton Press). In 2016 he received the FEMA Community Preparedness Champion award at the White House.
ABOUT PRAYERS & ACTION
Prayers & Action began as a grassroots movement on Facebook, where it was formerly known as Prayer Warriors Against Gun Violence. With more than 15,000 followers, the community is dedicated to praying for an end to gun violence in our nation while, at the same time, lifting up the survivors of gun violence in prayer. Backed by a coalition of today’s most prominent evangelical leaders, pastors, churches and organizations, Prayers & Action is committed to ending gun violence through prayer and action.