By Camila Ensink, Year 11
As people all around the world celebrated Valentine’s day this year, a high school shooting took place in Parkland, Florida. This mass shooting, which occurred at Stoneman Douglas High School, marked the 18th time that guns have been fired on school property and the 8th shooting having resulted in injury and death in the USA in 2018 alone.
At 14:19, after having been dropped off by an Uber at his old school, Nikolaz Cruz walked into a building as he pulled out a rifle from his bag. Once he had set off the fire alarm, students rushed out of their classrooms in a confused manner, after having already had a fire drill practice earlier that morning. As his former classmates started to fill the hallways, Cruz opened fire and targeted 4 classes on the first floor. He wore a gas mask and held smoke grenades, shooting at anybody in his way. A “code red” lockdown was initiated, but Cruz was already inside the building and the damage had already been done. He continued down the hallway before going up to the second floor and continuing his 6 minute rampage. Cruz then went up to the third floor where he disposed of his rifle and backpack, before running down the stairs and blending in with the rest of the students fleeing for their lives. The mass shooting left 17 dead and 14 injured.
The reason for which this specific school shooting has gained the amount of attention that it has, aside from the obvious reasons, is because of the way the students reacted when their school was put in lockdown and how everybody in the school knew who the gunman was before having actually seen him.
When the students of Parkland High School heard the gunshots from the hallways outside of their classrooms, the majority’s first instinct was to go to social media for help. While some sent messages to their parents letting them know of the situation they were in, others snapchatted as their classmates were being shot or even tweeted messages such as “I’m in a school shooting right now.” Although the way they reacted could have been due to an uncertainty of what to do in the moment, students resorted to social media before even attempting to contact the police.
The other reason for which the shooting went viral was because students and staff assumed who the gunman was before it having even been confirmed. Nikolas Cruz had attended Stoneman Douglas High School before having been expelled. He was known for being very aggressive, having anger management problems and picking fights in school. Before having been kicked out, Cruz had been a part of the school’s air rifle team and a member of the Junior Reserve Officer’s Training Corps. He often made jokes about “shooting up establishments”, as well as gun violence. His instagram was full of pictures with guns and knives, and constantly referred to how he liked killing animals. Neighbors even noticed how his adoptive mother would call the police to come by the house and “talk some sense into him”. Nikolas Cruz’s youtube videos were full of threats, extremist views, anti-black and anti-Muslim slurs, as well as advocating the killing of Mexicans, blacks and gays. He believed that white women in interracial relationships were “Traitors” and even stated anti-Semitic views towards his own mother.
After having left a comment on a Youtuber’s video in 2017 which stated “I’m going to be a professional school shooter”, the user reported him to the FBI. Unfortunately, they were unable to identify Cruz and therefore nothing was done. He was also investigated by “The Florida Department of Children and Families” for snapchat posts where he cut his arms and said he was planning on buying a gun. Since Cruz had been diagnosed with depression, ADHD and autism, they believed he was not a risk and was receiving enough support and did not follow up on his investigation.
After Cruz’s adoptive mother’s death in November due to influenza and pneumonia, he was taken in by one of his neighbors. It then started to circulate that Cruz had continued to send threats to some of his old classmates, which led the school to ban him from wearing a backpack on campus, as well as informing the school administration of this new rule. “I think everyone had in their minds if anybody was going to do it, it was going to be him.”
After having shot several people, Cruz went to the sandwich shop Subway where he bought a drink. He then later went to McDonald’s before he was arrested walking down the street, showing no remorse of what he had done. Although all the warning signs for Cruz had gone off, they all went unheeded and he was able to purchase a gun.
The Parkland High School Shooting has sparked a lot of controversy on the subject of gun control and whether firearms should become less accessible. The subject of tightening gun control has been strongly fought for since the Sandy Hook Elementary shooting in 2012, but no changes have been made. And as the President of the United States dodged all questions on this subject in the wake of the tragedy, a Florida gun show took place only 3 days after the mass shooting where children could attend for free.
