The Diocese of Joliet said it will address school safety with school principals in the wake of the Minnesota school shooting, which took the lives of 2 children and wounded 17 other people on Wednesday.

Students at Annunciation Catholic School in Minneapolis were attending a Mass at the parish church when a shooter fired into the building through the windows. Two students, ages 8 and 10, were killed, while 14 others and three senior citizens attending the mass were injured. As of Thursday, three people remained hospitalized.

The shooter was also found dead at the scene.

The shooting has prompted responses from community leaders, schools and religious organizations around the country, including the Diocese of Joliet, which is home to 50 Catholic schools in Will, DuPage, Ford, Grundy, Iroquois, Kankakee, and Kendall counties.

“The Diocese of Joliet is deeply saddened to learn of this morning’s shooting during school Mass at Annunciation Catholic Church and School in Minneapolis,” the diocese said in an announcement Wednesday evening. “Our condolences go out to the families of the students who were killed or injured and their school and parish community.”

As the diocese noted in its statement, “It is unusual for something like this to take place at a Catholic church and school.”

While there have been over 500 school shootings in the U.S. since the year 2000, only three have previously taken place at Catholic schools. All three events resulted in two casualties total, and none of the events qualified as a mass shooting.

As a result of this low incident rate, many Catholic schools do not have the same safety protocols in place that their public school counterparts have.

“Catholic schools are usually smaller, tight-knit communities where faculty, staff, students and parents know and support one another,” the diocese said.

“The school safety protocols at the Diocese of Joliet are designed to minimize risk, and we continuously look for opportunities to strengthen them,” the diocese said. “We train and prepare principals, students and staff for these types of situations because we are not immune to violence.”

With the school year having just started last week for the Diocese of Joliet schools, a meeting of school principals was already scheduled for Thursday. The issue of school safety would be added to the day’s discussions.

“During the meeting, the Catholic Schools Office will review and discuss the latest Diocesan safety and emergency preparedness protocols to ensure everyone is up to date,” the statement said. “The safety of everyone in our school communities at the Diocese is a top priority. Ongoing training at the Diocesan and county level help strengthen crisis management and emergency response in our Diocesan schools, enhancing our efforts to remain safe, faith-filled learning spaces. Preparedness and prevention help keep everyone safe.”

There was no information on whether the meeting on Thursday or subsequent discussions will result in updates to safety protocols in local schools.