PARKLAND, Fla. – Florida lawmakers and schooling leaders from a number of states on Saturday took what’s most probably the overall excursion of a construction at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, the place a former pupil shot 17 other folks to loss of life and wounded 17 others on Valentine’s Day 2018.
The 1200 Building is scheduled to be demolished subsequent summer time, the native college district introduced last month.
Authorities advised WPLG-TV that Saturday used to be the last day for other folks to excursion the construction, which has been preserved as proof by the Broward Sheriff’s Office.
Max Schachter, whose 14-year-old son Alex Schachter used to be killed within the bloodbath, led Saturday’s excursion.
“I wanted to have as many people, leaders of school districts around the country, to come to the building and understand the failures and lessons learned,” he mentioned.
People from 25 states, together with college board participants, superintendents and nationwide Parent Teacher Association participants, went at the excursion to look how they may make colleges more secure, WFOR-TV reported.
In July, families of the victims had been allowed to move within the locked construction. Members of Congress had been amongst those that toured it in August.
Classes have long-since resumed on the Stoneman Douglas campus whilst the construction with bullet-riddled and blood-splattered partitions remained locked off. Community participants had been calling for its demolition for years, however prosecutors mentioned they had to maintain it as proof for the shooter’s homicide trial.
On Feb. 14, 2018, former pupil Nikolas Cruz went with an AR-15-style semiautomatic rifle to the campus, the place he killed 14 scholars and 3 body of workers participants and wounded 17 folks. He pleaded in charge in 2021 and used to be sentenced last yr to life in prison.
Tony Montalto, whose 14-year-old daughter Gina Montalto used to be shot to loss of life, has been president of Stand with Parkland, which represents lots of the sufferers’ households. He mentioned Saturday that the varsity will have to have had more potent doorways with bullet-resistant glass.
Chris Hixon, the varsity’s athletic director and wrestling trainer, used to be killed when he ran towards Cruz and attempted to forestall the shooting. His widow, Debbi Hixon, mentioned protection measures may have stored lives.
“To really know the true story, to see what actually happened, and to know what the failures were is really the point of being able to go through that building,” she mentioned Saturday.
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