Minnesota Governor Tim Walz reveals during the debate that son Gus witnessed a shooting

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz said during Tuesday night's vice presidential debate that his son Gus was among the many Americans who witnessed a shooting, causing an otherwise contentious sparring session to be briefly interrupted by a moment of human compassion.

“I have a 17-year-old,” Walz said in response to a question about gun violence, “and he witnessed a shooting at a community center while he was playing volleyball.”

“This is terrible,” JD Vance muttered, visibly surprised.

When it was the Ohio senator's turn to respond, Vance turned to Walz.

“Tim, first of all, I didn't know your 17-year-old was a witness to a shooting, and I'm sorry for that and I hope he's OK,” he said.

Then he proclaimed: “Christ, have mercy. It’s terrible.”

“I appreciate you saying that,” Walz thanked him.

Walz has previously referenced the anecdote during the campaign when discussing the need for gun control.

“Too many of us were there,” he said at a rally in Grand Rapids, Michigan, two weeks ago. “My own son was in a place where someone was shot in the head.”

Dylan Wells, a campaign reporter for The Washington Posttweeted shortly after Walz's comment that the shooting Gus witnessed occurred last January in St. Paul, Minnesota. The incident did not directly involve the teenager who watched as a 26-year-old recreation center employee shot a 16-year-old boy in the head.

According to local reports, the victim was hospitalized with life-threatening injuries but survived after emergency neurosurgery. The shooter later pleaded guilty and was sentenced to ten years in prison.

Gus gained national attention and the hearts of many social media users with his outsized emotional outburst at the Democratic National Convention when his father accepted the vice presidential nomination. As the cameras in the arena focused on the teenager, a sobbing Gus could be seen shouting: “That's my dad!”

After right-wing commentators mocked Gus for displaying his emotions, others pointed out that the Walz family had previously opened up People about Gus' neurodivergence. The teenager suffers from non-verbal learning disorder and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.

Although he focused on supporting stricter restrictions on firearms, Gov. Walz's full response to the issue of gun violence Tuesday night sparked even more scorn from right-wing observers who focused on a particular gaffe by the governor.

“I sat in this office with these Sandy Hook parents. I became friends with school shooters,” he said, apparently incorrectly. “I saw it.”