School shooting survivor 'traumatized,' left in 'state of complete fear,' dad says

(NewsNation) — A girl who survived the Minneapolis Catholic school shooting has been left in a "state of complete fear" and made a devastating confession after the tragedy, according to her father.

Two children were killed Wednesday when a shooter opened fire on kids as they were praying at a Mass celebrating students' return to school. Seventeen other people were wounded, including 14 children.

Vincent Francoual's 11-year-old daughter, Chloe, is a sixth-grader at the Annunciation School. Francoual, who is originally from France, tells "CUOMO" that she is traumatized by the tragedy.

He said his daughter made a devastating comment after surviving the shooting.

School shooting survivor left traumatized

"We just came back from France, and sometimes we joke we're going to move back," Francoual said. "And she never wanted to do it.

"And the first thing that she said on the way home was, 'I want to move back to France. I don't want to go to school.'"

Francoual said he tried to take his dog outside for a walk after returning home with his daughter. But Chloe was so frightened, she didn't want him to leave the house.

"She started to lock everything in the house, close all the windows," Francoual said.

"We tried to take it minute-by-minute. She made us promise that we won't hide anything from what happened today."

Vincent Francoual feared school shooting

Francoual recalled having a conversation with his wife a year ago about being worried about school shootings, even after living in the United States for some time.

"I told her, 'Every time you drop your kids off at school, you just don't know if you're going to see them again,'" he said. "And God forbid, it happened today."

Police identified the shooter as Robin Westman and said the guns used in the shooting were recently purchased and legal.

Francoual said the aftermath won't be easy but he's glad to have people around him who will help the family cope.

"We're going to take this one day at a time. It's a great community, the administration. It's like a small village in a big city," he said.