'We Live With It Every Day': Parkland Community Marks One Year Since Massacre
At 2:21 p.m. on Feb. 14, 2017, the first gunshots began to reverberate through the hallways of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, leaving 14 students and three educators dead; 17 others were wounded.
One year later at 10:17 a.m., silence descended on Florida's schools.
Broward County Public Schools Superintendent Robert Runcie said the time was chosen because most students would be in class and for the symbolism of 17 minutes after the hour honoring the 17 killed and the 17 injured.
The high school did not hold regular classes; rather, the school hosted a "Day of Service and Love." Students were invited to participate in projects including serving breakfast to first responders and packing meals for underprivileged children.
Some students arrived at school Thursday wearing the signature burgundy #MSDStrong T-shirts.
"The students who were here are probably sad and don't want to think too much about it," freshman Matthew Sabia told The Associated Press. "We don't really talk about it."
Grief counselors and therapy dogs were available.
Inspirational messages painted on stones placed at an outdoor memorial included "You are courageous," "Be here now" and "Communities that paint together heal together."
By noon, the school shut for the day.
Outside of school, the Broward County School Board sponsored community service projects at a park. At the Coral Springs Museum of Art, free "relaxing" activities including music, massage and a mini petting zoo were also on offer.
Several candle-lit and prayer vigils were scheduled throughout the day to give people a chance to gather and mourn communally.
For Linda Beigel Schulman, the pain of losing her son is just as sharp one year on.
"I walked down the path today and it was just like reliving last year when we walked down the path," she said at a Parkland news conference. Her son, Scott Beigel, a geography teacher and cross country coach, was shot dead after unlocking his door to let in fleeing students.
The days that have passed since February 14, 2017, have been marked by shock, by physical recovery, by outrage and by activism.
Surviving students formed March for Our Lives, a national movement to end gun violence and mass shootings, helping propel dozens of gun safety laws at the state level.
But on Thursday, March for Our Lives leaders put down their megaphones and stepped back from social media.
Jaclyn Corin, a senior at Marjory Stoneman Douglas and a co-founder of March For Our Lives told NPR that survivors of other school shootings had advised her and her friends to press pause.
"We don't know how we're going to feel," said Corin said of the first anniversary. "I think it's the proper thing to go dark — actually spend that day to ourselves in our own thoughts."
Survivor David Hogg, one of the movement's most prominent leaders, said he will be taking a three day break from Twitter. "Please remember the people [who were] stolen from us that day; they are why we fight for peace."
"We don't need [the anniversary] to remind us what happened," Andrew Pollack told the AP. He has become an advocate for school safety since his 18-year-old daughter Meadow was killed in the attack. "We live with it every day."
On Thursday, Fred Guttenberg was thinking about the morning a year ago when he sent his two children off to school and only one came home.
"I am forever haunted by my memory of that morning, rushing my kids out the door rather than getting one last minute. Did I say I love you?"
Guttenberg, who who has become another prominent gun safety activist, said he would be visiting Jaime's grave on Thursday.
Meantime, across the country in New Mexico, a gunshot was fired Thursday morning at a suburban Albuquerque school. Students were evacuated from V. Sue Cleveland High School and anxious parents were kept miles away awaiting word about their kids. Police said nobody was injured and a suspect was taken into custody. [Copyright 2019 NPR]
