Gov. Tim Walz says son Gus witnessed a shooting at the St. Paul Recreation Center during the VP debate

ST. PAUL, Minn. – Gov. Tim Walz revealed during Tuesday night's vice presidential debate that his teenage son Gus witnessed a shooting at a community center in St. Paul last year.

“Look, I have a 17-year-old who witnessed a shooting at a community center while he was playing volleyball. These things don’t let you go,” said Tim Walz.

He was referring to a Shoot This happened in January 2023 at the Jimmy Lee Rec Center when a staff member shot a 16-year-old boy in the head. According to a Facebook post by his coach David Albornoz, Gus Walz was one of about 100 young people at the community center at the time of the shooting.

Albornoz wrote the post shortly afterwards Gus Walz's viral moment that he cheered on his father at the Democratic National Convention. In it, Albornoz writes about the teenager's infectious love of volleyball and how, after the shooting, he “kept everyone safe and calm and took care of the kids in the gym while I rushed out.”

The recreation center employee – Exavir Dwayne Binford Jr. – pleaded guilty to first-degree assault for the shooting of the 16-year-old and was sentenced to 10 years in prison.

The criminal complaint states that the recreation center was closed because of a fight between several girls. A girl who was staying in the building was allowed to let her cousin in, which angered Binford because “another employee was undermining his authority,” documents say. He repeatedly called the girl a “slut,” whereupon the 16-year-old victim intervened.

Binford then showed the two that he was carrying a gun, and the 16-year-old and the girl began hitting him. Binford then stepped back, pulled out the gun and shot the 16-year-old in the head, the charges said.

Tim Walz mentioned the rec center shooting during a line of questioning about gun violence in the United States.

“I didn’t know your 17-year-old witnessed the shooting. And I'm sorry about that. And I hope, my God, have mercy. It’s terrible,” Senator JD Vance said to Tim Walz afterwards.