The Stoneman Douglas High School Shooting

I decided to do a different type of case today. I had recently just watched a documentary on the Columbine shooting, but I wanted to talk about another school shooting. This high school shooting in Parkland, Florida, actually surpassed Columbine as the deadliest shooting in U.S. history. The Columbine shooters killed 15, and this shooting left 17 dead.

Background

First, I’m going to give some background information on the lone shooter, and then go into the shooting.

The shooter, Nikolas Cruz, was born on September 24, 1998. He was 19 at the time of the shooting. He struggled in the few months leading up to the shooting, which is no way gives him any right to kill anyone.

Nikolas was adopted, and his parents both passed away in November 2017. His parents, Roger and Lynda were both in their 60’s, and probably loved Nikolas very much, and maybe didn’t realize he was troubled. This left Nikolas to stay with other relatives and friends.

Nikolas was not attending Stoneman Douglas at the time, he was expelled in 2017. He was in a GED program and had a job at a Dollar Store.

Most of the staff was aware of Nikolas, because he had behavior problems in the past and had threatened students before. The threat of him returning was on everyone’s minds, because the staff had sent an email warning each other about him.

Nikolas’ Social Media

Nikolas was also very aggressive about what he posted on social media. In September 2016, he posted a Snapchat of his arms with cuts on them, and telling people he wanted to buy a gun. The school had gotten information about it, and a school official suggested that Nikolas should go through treatment. Apparently, the mental institution didn’t agree.

He also had many posts posing with guns, using hateful language and slurs against other races. He was also in a private Instagram group where he expressed racist and homophobic remarks.

Nikolas would also talk openly at school about gun violence, and about how he had anger management. Many students, and even some parents said that Nikolas had killed animals before, and could kill again. Nobody listened.

The Shooting

On February 14, 2018, Nikolas went to the school in an Uber and was dropped off at 2:19pm. He was carrying a backpack and a rifle case. He was seen right away, and the witness told another staff member where Nikolas was going.

Nikolas went inside to building 12, which had about 30 classrooms. He set off the fire alarm, and just began firing at everyone.

At 2:21pm, one of the staff members that saw Nikolas when he first got there declared a code red and a lockdown.

The shooting only lasted six minutes. On the first floor, he killed eleven people. He went to the second level and didn’t kill anyone, and finally killed six people in the hallway of the third floor. It’s believed that he stopped because his gun jammed.

Nikolas then walked through the halls with the rest of the students and left the school at 3:01pm, and went to a nearby McDonalds.

At 3:40pm, Nikolas was arrested in a nearby neighborhood. He hadn’t gotten very far because he had to walk. He was taken to the hospital because had labored breathing, but was released back to the police.

The Victims

I’m going to list all the victims and their ages. 17 people died on this tragic day, not to long ago. They died because they went to school and work like any normal day, and a troubled person entered the school and killed them for no reason.

Alyssa Alhadeff, 14

Scott Beigel, 35

Martin Duque, 14

Nicholas Dworet, 17

Aaron Feis, 37

Jamie Guttenberg, 14

Chris Hixon, 49

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

There were also a few survivors who were affected by the shooting as well. Anthony Borges was 15, he was shot five times after using his body to barricade the door where several other students were. His family has sued the school district for personal injury to cover the expenses for his injuries. Anthony was dubbed the “real iron man,” and hell yes, this kid is AMAZING. However, he doesn’t deserve this, his family doesn’t deserve it, he should be living his life like a normal teenager.

Two survivors of this shooting have since committed suicide because of survivors guilt. A 19 year old woman and a 16 year old boy, they died within a week of each other.

WHY WAS NOTHING DONE?

The police department admitted they had been called 23 times— 23 TIMES, about Nikolas Cruz.

On February 5, 2016, their was an anonymous tip that Nikolas was planning to shoot up the school. This was a whole year before the actual shooting, and it seems like nothing was done.

On September 14, 2017, there was a Youtube comment under the name “nickolas cruz” that said “I’m going to be a professional school shooter.” The comment was reported, but the FBI said that they couldn’t trace it to the person who commented.

Many people wanted the sheriff, Scott Israel to resign. He refused to resign or take responsibility for failing to stop the shooting. He even referred to himself as amazing on an interview with CNN. EW, WHAT A LOSER.

Trial and Conviction

Nikolas Cruz was charged with 17 counts of premeditated murder and held without bond.

On March 7, 2018, he was indicted on 34 charges, 17 counts of first degree murder and 17 counts of attempted first degree murder. On March 13, the prosecution filed to seek the death penalty.

Nikolas Cruz

Other

Nikolas didn’t stay out of trouble. On November 13, 2018, he attacked an officer and was charged with aggravated assault on an officer.

In March 2018, the Florida Legislature passed a bill called Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Public Safety Act. It raised the minimum age of buying a gun to 21, with waiting periods for background checks as well.

This case sparked a lot of outrage and protests. Many celebrities also took to their social media over what happened and tried to help in anyway. Jimmy Fallon surprised students who graduated in 2018, and gave their speech.

Remembering the victims

FINAL THOUGHTS

I’m pissed. I’m just pissed about this case. This kid should have been in a mental institution from day 1. He was clearly troubled, and should not have even been on the street. His own family called the police on him MANY times, and the police didn’t do shit.

SO MANY PEOPLE LOST THEIR LIVES THAT DAY AND ARE STILL AFFECTED TODAY. I just want to know why the police didn’t do anything, and still haven’t taken the responsibility today.

Sources

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stoneman_Douglas_High_School_shooting

https://www.cnn.com/2020/02/14/us/parkland-shooting-marjory-stoneman-douglas-2-years/index.html

https://www.cnn.com/2018/02/18/us/parkland-florida-school-shooting-accounts/index.html