PARKLAND, Fla. (AP) — Florida lawmakers and schooling leaders from a number of states on Saturday took what is probably going the ultimate tour of a constructing at Marjory Stoneman Douglas Excessive Faculty in Parkland, the place a former scholar shot 17 individuals to loss of life and wounded 17 others on Valentine’s Day 2018.
The 1200 Constructing is scheduled to be demolished subsequent summer time, the native faculty district introduced final month.
Authorities advised WPLG-TV that Saturday was the final day for individuals to tour the constructing, which has been preserved as proof by the Broward Sheriff’s Workplace.
Max Schachter, whose 14-year-old son Alex Schachter was killed within the bloodbath, led Saturday’s tour.
“I needed to have as many individuals, leaders of faculty districts across the nation, to come back to the constructing and perceive the failures and classes discovered,” he stated.
Folks from 25 states, together with faculty board members, superintendents and nationwide Guardian Trainer Affiliation members, went on the tour to see how they may make faculties safer, WFOR-TV reported.
In July, households of the victims had been allowed to go contained in the locked constructing. Members of Congress had been amongst those that toured it in August.
Courses have long-since resumed on the Stoneman Douglas campus whereas the constructing with bullet-riddled and blood-splattered partitions remained locked off. Group members have been calling for its demolition for years, however prosecutors stated they wanted to protect it as proof for the shooter’s homicide trial.
On Feb. 14, 2018, former scholar Nikolas Cruz went with an AR-15-style semiautomatic rifle to the campus, the place he killed 14 college students and three workers members and wounded 17 different individuals. He pleaded responsible in 2021 and was sentenced final 12 months to life in jail.
Tony Montalto, whose 14-year-old daughter Gina Montalto was shot to loss of life, has been president of Stand with Parkland, which represents a lot of the victims’ households. He stated Saturday that the college ought to have had stronger doorways with bullet-resistant glass.
Chris Hixon, the college’s athletic director and wrestling coach, was killed when he ran towards Cruz and tried to cease the taking pictures. His widow, Debbi Hixon, stated security measures might have saved lives.
“To actually know the true story, to see what truly occurred, and to know what the failures had been is admittedly the purpose of with the ability to undergo that constructing,” she stated Saturday.
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