At debate, Walz says his teenage son witnessed a shooting: 'Those things don't leave you'

Tuesday night's vice-presidential debate featured a brief moment of shared empathy between the candidates when Gov. Tim Walz recounted a time when his teenage son witnessed a shooting.

While answering a question about gun violence , Walz, the Democratic vice-presidential nominee, said his 17-year-old son witnessed a shooting at a community center while he was there playing volleyball.

“Those things don’t leave you," Walz said Tuesday on the debate stage .

The admission left Walz's Republican opponent JD Vance shaking his head in sadness, muttering, "that's awful."

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Gus Walz witnessed shooting in 2023 at St. Paul rec center, reports say

The personal moment came while Walz and Vance were being questioned about gun violence, particularly school shootings.

The Harris campaign told both the Washington Post and New York Times that Walz was referring to a shooting that happened in January 2023 at the Jimmy Lee Recreation Center in Saint Paul.

USA TODAY has reached out to the Harris campaign and a representative for Walz for more information.

According to Minnesota Public Radio, which covered the attack , a 26-year-old employee at the center shot a teenager during a fight. The center is across the street from Central High School in St. Paul, where Gus Walz is a student.

Though the 16-year-old victim survived, he had to have a portion of his skull removed and still suffers from seizures, MPR reported .

After sharing about his son, Walz continued, “as a member of Congress, I sat in my office surrounded by dozens of the Sandy Hook parents, and they were looking at my 7-year-old’s picture on the wall. Their 7-year-olds were dead, and they were asking us to do something.”

Vance to Walz: 'It is awful'

Walz’s disclosure appeared to elicit sympathy from Sen. Vance (R-Ohio,) who called gun violence a “terrible epidemic” during the debate .

“Tim, first of all, I didn’t know that your 17-year-old witnessed a shooting, and I'm sorry about that,” Vance said after Walz was done speaking.

“Christ have mercy," he continued, "it is awful.”

“I appreciate it,” Walz responded.

Candidates offer differing views on response to school shootings

While the candidates on both tickets have said they are gun owners, Vance and Walz largely disagree on how best to curb the epidemic of gun violence in the United States – the leading cause of death among children and teens.

Vance, who opposes most gun control legislation, focused on improving security around the schools and blamed gun violence on immigration issues at the border.

"I unfortunately think that we have to increase security in our schools," Vance said. "We have to make the doors lock better. We have to make the doors stronger. We've got to make the windows stronger, and of course, we've got to increase school resource officers."

Walz, meanwhile, focused on gun control legislation and touted his record in Minnesota passing enhanced background checks while selling firearms.

"We understand that the Second Amendment is there, but our first responsibility is to our kids to figure this out," he said.

Amid the policy differences , Walz did take a moment to note that he and Vance, both fathers, were in agreement that shootings were “abhorrent.”

“I do think that this is a good start to the conversation,” Walz said.

Contributing: Kinsey Crowley , USA TODAY

Eric Lagatta covers breaking and trending news for USA TODAY. Reach him at elagatta@gannett.com

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: At debate, Walz says his teenage son witnessed a shooting: 'Those things don't leave you'