Walz says his teenage son witnessed a shooting, drawing sympathy from Vance

This story first appeared in the NPR Network's live blog of the 2024 vice presidential debate between JD Vance and Tim Walz. For the latest on the campaign, head to NPR's Elections page.

Gov. Tim Walz told Tuesday night's vice presidential debate that his son Gus witnessed a shooting, an admission that visibly surprised and saddened his opponent, JD Vance, onstage.

"I've got a 17-year-old and he witnessed a shooting at a community center playing volleyball," Walz said.

"That's awful," Vance murmured, shaking his head.

Video credit: CBS News Vice Presidential Debate.

Both candidates condemned the epidemic of school shootings — and said they know they agree on that — but offered different solutions for addressing it. Vance talked about improving physical security measures while Walz focused on gun control legislation.

When it was Vance's turn to respond, he addressed Walz directly.

"Tim, first of all, I didn't know that your 17-year-old witnessed a shooting, and I'm sorry about that and I hope he's doing OK," he said. "Christ have mercy, it is awful."

"I appreciate you saying that," Walz replied.

Walz told MPR News in March about the incident, which happened at the Jimmy Lee Community Center in Saint Paul.

"As a parent of a youth who was at that facility, I think that would have been a good decision to keep those firearms out of there," he said.

At other moments in the debate, the views between the two notably diverged.

In a question about whether prosecutors should charge parents for the mass shootings their children commit, Vance turned quickly to how to prevent school shootings in general. In his view, the primary way to prevent these shootings is to increase school security.

“Unfortunately, I think that we have to