It happened on a cold Wednesday in January. While most of the country eventually came to know Gus Walz as the emotional, proud son cheering for his dad at the Democratic National Convention, his neighbors in St. Paul already knew him as the kid who stayed calm when everything went sideways.
Basically, the story that came out during the 2024 vice presidential debate wasn’t just a political talking point. It was a real, terrifying afternoon at a local community center.
If you’re looking for the specifics of the walz son witnessed shooting incident, you have to look back to January 18, 2023. Gus was 16 at the time. He was at the Jimmy Lee Recreation Center in St. Paul, Minnesota. He wasn't there for anything dramatic—just volleyball practice. He loved the game. He even helped lead a boys' volleyball team as a freshman captain. But that afternoon, the gym transformed from a place of play into a scene of survival.
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The Day at Jimmy Lee Recreation Center
The recreation center sits right across from Central High School. It’s a hub for kids. That day, things got tense outside between a 26-year-old employee named Exavir Dwayne Binford Jr. and a group of teenagers. It started with an argument. It escalated into a physical scuffle.
Then, a shot rang out.
Inside the gym, the sound was unmistakable. While the shooting technically happened in the parking lot, the proximity meant the danger felt immediate. Gus didn't see the bullet hit the victim—a 16-year-old boy who was shot in the forehead—but he witnessed the raw, bloody aftermath.
His coach, David Albornoz, later shared some pretty heavy details on Facebook. He described how he had to rush outside to perform first aid on the victim. When Albornoz came back inside, his hands were covered in blood. Gus saw that. He saw the panic. But instead of freezing, the kid stepped up.
Honestly, it’s the kind of thing you hope your own teenager would do. While the adults were dealing with the immediate medical emergency, Gus helped herd the younger kids to safety. Some accounts say he shuffled them under the bleachers; others remember him leading them back to the pool area where the doors could be locked.
Regardless of the specific corner of the building, the consensus from those there was clear: he kept people calm.
Why the Gus Walz Story Resonated
When Tim Walz mentioned it during the debate with JD Vance, it caught people off guard. "I've got a 17-year-old and he witnessed a shooting at a community center playing volleyball," the Governor said. It was a rare moment of genuine, non-scripted empathy in modern politics. Vance’s reaction—"Christ have mercy, it is awful"—seemed to bridge the partisan divide for a few seconds.
But for the Walz family, it wasn't a debate "moment." It was a year of processing trauma.
- The Victim: The 16-year-old who was shot survived, but with life-altering injuries. He had to have part of his skull removed.
- The Consequences: Binford, the shooter, pleaded guilty to first-degree assault and was sentenced to ten years.
- The Lasting Impact: Tim Walz later told reporters that these things "don't leave you." Gus was still "dealing with it" more than a year later.
You've gotta realize that for kids like Gus, who has a non-verbal learning disorder and ADHD, a high-stress event like this hits differently. His coach noted that Gus is a "regular teen" who suddenly had his private trauma broadcast to millions.
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Understanding the Context of the Shooting
A lot of people think this was a school shooting. It wasn't. It was a dispute at a public park facility that turned violent because a staff member brought a gun to work. This distinction matters when we talk about the walz son witnessed shooting because it highlights a different side of the gun violence conversation—violence in "safe" community spaces.
The rec center employee, Binford, apparently felt threatened during a fight with the teens. He claimed they knocked him down. But he was the one with the firearm. He fired one shot. That one shot changed the lives of everyone in that building, including the Governor’s son.
Lessons from the Incident
So, what do we actually take away from this? It’s not just a footnote in a political bio.
First, it’s a reminder that "situational awareness" is a skill kids are being forced to learn far too early. Gus didn't have a manual for what to do when a shooting happens outside his volleyball practice, yet he instinctively moved to protect smaller children.
Second, it shows the importance of community center security and the policies regarding staff carrying weapons. Walz has since used this personal experience to push for stricter local gun laws, arguing that as a parent, he wanted that facility to be a gun-free zone.
If you’re a parent or a coach, here are a few things to consider based on how this situation was handled:
- Emergency Protocols: Does your local rec center have a "lockdown" plan that the kids actually know? In the Jimmy Lee incident, locking the doors and moving to a secondary location (like the pool) was key.
- The Aftermath Matters: Witnessing the aftermath—the blood, the sirens, the fear—is its own form of trauma. Don't assume a kid is "fine" just because they weren't the one hit.
- Peer Leadership: Kids often look to the "cool" older kids in a crisis. Gus being a team captain likely helped the younger children stay quiet and calm because they trusted him.
The reality is that for Gus Walz, January 18 wasn't about politics. It was about a Tuesday afternoon that never really ended. While the rest of the world sees a viral video of a kid crying for his dad, the people of St. Paul see a kid who grew up a lot faster than he should have had to.
To help your own family navigate the reality of community safety, start by visiting your local community center and asking about their specific emergency response training for youth programs. You might also look into local "Stop the Bleed" courses, which provide the kind of first-aid training that Coach Albornoz used that day. Knowing what to do can't prevent every tragedy, but as we saw with Gus, it can certainly help manage the chaos.