The Catholic University of America held a mass for 20-year-old Daniel Anderl, who was killed in a shooting at his family’s New Jersey home this weekend. Anderl is the son of U.S. District Judge Esther Salas.
A gunman, reportedly dressed as a delivery driver, entered the home on Sunday night, shooting and killing Aderl and wounding his father, defense attorney Mark Anderl. Salas was not hurt.
In a statement issued Monday morning, Catholic University President John Garvey expressed shock at the news of Daniel Anderl’s death. He was a rising junior at the school in Northeast D.C.
Garvey wrote, “We all grieve and mourn this loss to our university community.”
The days ahead will be difficult, and Garvey, who spoke at a mass for Daniel Anderl Monday night, urged everyone to stay together and pray for one another.
“We are stunned and shocked that another human being can so callously cause the death of another person,” the priest presiding over the mass said.
The sermon gathered recollections of Daniel Anderl by his friends, and he was described as someone who was generous, loyal and had a good-natured competitiveness with a drive and desire to succeed in life and would always “treat everyone to Chipotle.”
“Daniel’s death was not in god’s plan for him and for us,” the priest said. “God is not the author of this evil.”
Daniel Anderl attended St. Joseph’s College Preparatory school in Metuchen, New Jersey. A message on the school’s website called him “an overall wonderful human being” and offered condolences to the family.
