Unfortunate Shooting Event In The High School That Placed In Parkland, Florida

On the day of February 14, 2018 there was a shooting in Marjory Stoneman Douglas High school. The high school is in Parkland, Florida. This moment left many families traumatized as they mourn for their lost loved ones; also, students and teachers as they are in fear for their lives. This paper will discuss the (1). who, (2). what, (3). where, (4). when, (5). And the why of this unfortunate shooting event.

Firstly, the name of the shooter who caused the incident is Nikolas Cruz, which is an ex-student at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High. This incident involved many civilians and officers. Although, there is information also said that the teachers were the heroes in this situation. There were many factors that took place in the event. Teachers such as: Scott Beigel, who opened the door for the students as he heard gunshots and Melissa Falkowski, who also took in students and hid them in the closet. Officers such as: Michael Leonard, who caught the individual, and Scot Peterson, who was the police officer who was on duty, but did not intervene.

To add, this incident involved many civilians, leaving a total of 17 dead. During the shootings, gunman Nikolas Cruz reloaded a total of five times. This is more than enough time for officers to apprehend this criminal. However, the criminal Nikolas Cruz was still on the move. If Peterson had gone in and apprehended the criminal when he was reloading, then he would have possibly saved many lives and fulfil his duty as a police officer, to keep the citizens safe from harm way.

Ultimately, where this situation took place was as said earlier in Parkland, Florida. Parkland is said to be one of the nicest neighborhoods in Broward. With a population of about 32,000 people. Also with Stoneman Douglas High being a great school having an enrollment of about 3,200 students. However, one day this nice neighborhood and school took a turn for the worse by criminal Nikolas Cruz. According to CNN, this is how the criminal acted,

“the shooter entered the building from the east stairwell and fired into four classrooms. Shooter continues down hall and up the west stairwell to the second floor. Shooter walks down the hall and shoots one victim in room 1234. Shooter continues up the east stairwell to the third floor, drops his backpack and rifle, and runs back down the stairs to exit the building.”

To add, this all happened on February 14, 2018. Valentine’s day of 2018. A day to be remembered. Nikolas was said to be abused and has been known for flashing weapons on social medias. He was always known as the bad egg. “Agustin Felman, a Stoneman Douglas student, told police Cruz once said he “wanted to shoot black people.” Kevin Fanti, a gun store employee who sold Cruz an AK-47, said he later saw Cruz with a swastika drawn in Sharpie on his wrist. Another student, Michael Garvey, said Cruz showed him a “lunch box full of bullets.” “Cruz had been expelled for unspecified disciplinary reasons. Now he was back, with a .223-caliber AR-15 rifle concealed in a soft black case.” (CNN P.1).

“Although sheriff’s deputies, school officials and even the FBI were aware of Cruz’s troubling behavior, authorities were unable to prevent the deadly attack.” Said Miami Herald. Meaning on this day of Valentines would have never happened if deputies, officials, or even FBI took the responsibility of taking action.

There were many ways to have avoided this situation. Peterson could have gone in and done his job correctly. An active shooter should not be able to roam the hallways or even get into the school without confrontation. This was due to the lack of law enforcement and the negligence of Scot Paterson for not going in when he was very much needed to. Recently, now in January of this new year 2019, suspended embattled Broward County Sheriff Scott Israel, whose department has been criticized for its response to last year’s massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland. DeSantis, who just took office after winning election in November, appointed former Coral Springs police Sgt. Gregory Tony, now president of an active-shooter response training company, as the new sheriff, saying that Israel had displayed ‘incompetence and neglect of duty.’