On February 14, 2018 Nikolas Cruz went to Marjory Stoneman Douglas high school (his former school) and killed 17 people and injured 17 others. Cruz was suspended from Stoneman Douglas a year earlier because of disciplinary issues. School was not the only time that he acted out; his mother had to call the police multiple times, years before the shooting, because of Cruz’s violent behavior. Before carrying out the shooting, Nikolas Cruz made videos expressing his intent to be a school shooter because of the fame it would bring him. There was a history of disturbing behavior that Cruz exhibited which, according to CNN, is documented in reports going back to 2011. 

The day of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas shooting was a complete failure and disaster. The school police officer did not even enter the building during the attack. EMS responders were told that they could not go inside the school by the Broward County Sheriff’s office for the longest time. Nikolas Cruz just walked into a school where he had been suspended because of the possible danger he posed to the other students. That is not even the entire list of problems with how that day was handled.

Since the time of Nikolas Cruz’s attack, there have been several laws passed to prevent another situation like this from happening again in Florida. There were 50 laws passed in Florida to restrict access to guns. One of them being, Florida raising the age you buy a gun to 21. Nikolas Cruz was 19 when he purchased the AR-15 semiautomatic rifle he used to carry out the Parkland shooting, and he bought it legally. The waiting period for a gun was also extended to three days. Florida Governor at the time, Rick Scott, was behind this legislation even though he had strong ties to the NRA. 

Nikolas Cruz has been sentenced to life without parole; there was one juror who did not vote for the death penalty; the families of the victims were naturally devastated by this news. When Nikolas Cruz murdered those 17 people, he did not just affect their lives. He inflicted a terrible tragedy and what I imagine is excruciating pain on their loved ones. He took somebody’s child, somebody’s grandchild, somebody’s niece or nephew, somebody’s brother or sister, somebody’s father, somebody’s husband, somebody’s cousin, and somebody’s friend. 

The thing to remember today, the anniversary of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas shooting, is that we can never forget. Although, instead of remembering the name of the monster who caused this unbelievable carnage, remember the names of his victims. The people who were murdered that day had their lives stolen from them, but remembering them can be a way of keeping them alive. Here are the names of the people who died in the Parkland shooting and a link telling you a little bit about them. 

• Alyssa Alhadeff – 14 years old

• Scott Beigel – 35 years old

• Martin Duque – 14 years old

• Nicholas Dworet – 17 years old

• Aaron Feis – 37 years old

• Jaime Guttenberg – 14 years old

• Chris Hixon – 49 years old

• Luke Hoyer – 15 years old

• Cara Loughran – 14 years old

• Gina Montalto – 14 years old

• Joaquin Oliver – 17 years old

• Alaina Petty – 14 years old

• Meadow Pollack – 18 years old

• Helena Ramsay – 17 years old

• Alex Schachter – 14 years old

• Carmen Schentrup – 16 years old

• Peter Wang – 15 years old

To learn more about these victims click this link: 

https://www.nbcmiami.com/news/local/reflection-remembering-the-17-parkland-victims/2690110/