On February 14, 2018, a 19 yo. expelled student opened fire at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, killing seventeen students and staff members and injuring seventeen others that lasted 6 minutes. The gunman then fled the scene on foot by blending with other students. He was arrested about an hour later nearby and confessed to being the perpetrator.
Seventeen people were killed and seventeen people were wounded but survived their gunshot wounds. Three remained in critical condition the day after the shooting and one remained by the second day.
Twelve victims died inside the building, three died just outside the building on school premises, and two died in the hospital.
The fourteen students and three staff members killed were:
- Alyssa Alhadeff, 14
- Scott Beigel, 35 – Geography teacher
- Martin Duque, 14
- Nicholas Dworet, 17
- Aaron Feis, 37 – assistant football coach
- Jaime Guttenberg, 14
- Chris Hixon, 49 – Security Guard
- Luke Hoyer, 15
- Cara Loughran, 14
- Gina Montalto, 14
- Joaquin Oliver, 17
- Alaina Petty, 14
- Meadow Pollack, 18
- Helena Ramsay, 17
- Alex Schachter, 14
- Carmen Schentrup, 16
- Peter Wang, 15
After the shooting, the Broward County Sheriff’s Office received widespread criticism for its handling of the police response.
An armed cop, Scot Peterson, was onsite when the shooting occurred. Instead of responding to the attack, he went into hiding. Eight days after the shooting, Scot Peterson retired after he was suspended without pay.
Scot Peterson has since earned the nickname “Coward from Broward”. Aside from Scot Peterson, there were 3 other cops that arrived to the scene and hid behind their cars with their weapons drawn.
*Update: 6/4/2019 – Coward from Broward Deputy Arrested for Hiding during Parkland School Shooting
*Update: In March 2019, shortly after the first anniversary of the shooting, two Parkland survivors committed suicide: a former student who graduated the year before, and a student who was enrolled in the school year