The recent shooting at Florida State University has struck a painful chord for many students who once walked the halls of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.
For them, the tragedy is not just another headline, it’s a chilling echo of the day seven years ago when a gunman killed 17 students and staff in Parkland.
A second tragedy for Parkland survivors
The shooting at Florida State University Thursday is a painful reminder of the past for some students.
They were in Parkland seven years ago when a mass shooting happened at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, killing 17 students and staff.
Hundreds of MSD graduates and students from the nearby middle school, which was close to the carnage, now go to Florida State.
Robbie Alhadeff is a sophomore at FSU.
His sister Alyssa was killed at MSD, and he was in middle school at the time.
A mother’s fight for school safety
Their mother, Lori Alhadeff, is a Broward School Board member who has dedicated her life to school safety. She has been key to getting panic buttons installed at schools.
She was frantic when she got word of the FSU shooting.
“Yesterday was so traumatic. It’s so sad it’s the second shooting for many of these kids. We have to do more.”
Alhadeff heard from her son that he was safe. But she says he had been in the vicinity of the shooting just minutes before it happened.
“We have made progress making K through 12 schools safer, but we need to do more at the college level. Are the threat assessments we do at that level being carried into colleges? Schools need to know if a safety plan is in effect for that student.”
It’s not clear what FSU knew about the accused shooter’s background.
Calls for accountability and change
Parkland parent Fred Guttenberg, whose daughter was killed in the MSD shooting, tweeted, “America is broken,” and noted that many of her friends went on to attend FSU.
“It is a school Joaquin would have attended, and his friends went there,” says Manny Oliver, whose son Joaquin was killed at MSD.
He’s been on a mission to end school violence.
His raw one-man show dedicated to his late son is getting traction, but he says more needs to happen.
“If you check GPT chat, it says the way to end gun violence is to ban assault weapons. It doesn’t say lower the age to buy a gun or arm teachers.”
Looking ahead: Making colleges safer
Lori Alhadeff says she is going to try to make change at the college level. Her youngest son will be attending FSU too.
“It’s a priority. Do classroom doors need locks? Do we need more law enforcement? And schools need to be accountable. Parents need to know their kids are safe.”
