EP. 73 FLORIDA - The Parkland Shooting At Stoneman Douglas High School (PT. 1)
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Valentine's Day is supposed to be a day of love.

But years ago, America would learn that that's not always the case. Sometimes, it's a day full of hate, and that was especially evident for the people of Parkland, Florida in 2018. On that horrific day, 17 people said goodbye to their family, walked out of their home, and left for school in one of the safest cities in the entire state.

Every single one of them went into Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, completely unaware that this would be their last day on Earth. And they had no reason to believe that this day would be any different. After all, school is supposed to be a place where you learn and grow. A place where you feel safe, especially on Valentine's Day.

Throughout the morning, students traded Valentine's Day cards. They received roses and teddy bears from their high school crushes. Many students were even wearing pink and red for the occasion. But one person who stepped onto campus that day was ready to unleash his hatred within the school. Instead of wearing holiday colors, he wore black in a shirt with the school's logo.

And instead of bringing Valentine's Day cards for the students, he brought an AR-15. And he walked through the halls indiscriminately killing as many people as he could. 17 people would be injured by the flying bullets, and another 17 would lose their lives. And all 3,300 students at Marjory Stoneman Douglas would forever be changed by this horrific and senseless tragedy.

and a day that was supposed to be filled with love would now be marked by the deadliest high school shooting in American history. This is the story of the Parkland School shooting at Stoneman Douglas High. I'm Courtney Browen. And I'm Colin Browen. And you're listening to Murder in America. ♪♪

Parkland is about 45 minutes north of Miami, and before 2018, it was considered to be one of the safest cities in the entire state of Florida. The town has always been very family friendly with lots of local finds like mom and pop coffee shops and beautiful parks.

In fact, Parkland is known for its zoning laws which are designed to protect the park-like character of the city. No stores or traffic lights even existed in Parkland until the mid-1990s and early 2000s, when larger neighborhood developments were built. It's also the second wealthiest community of the Miami metropolitan area, so people from all over move to Parkland because it's a great place to live. In addition, it has one of the highest ranked schools in the state of Florida.

Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, whose motto is, "Be positive, be passionate, be proud to be an Eagle." About 3,300 students attended this prestigious school and the families everywhere moved to Parkland so that their child could receive a good education here. But on Valentine's Day of 2018, Stoneman Douglas would become known for something more than just their good ranking. And it all started with an Uber.

At 2:06 p.m. that Wednesday, an Uber driver in Parkland, Florida received a notification that she was to pick up a passenger off Lokahatchee Road and take them to Stoneman Douglas High School. When she drove her gray SUV to the pickup location, a young man in his late teens was outside waiting for her. He was wearing a maroon JROTC shirt, a black hat, and he was carrying a large black duffel bag.

And from what she could tell, he seemed completely normal as he climbed into the backseat of her car. Along the 13-minute drive, the two didn't say much to one another.

But at one point, the passenger mentioned that he was going to Stoneman Douglas to attend a music class. But there wasn't a guitar inside of the large black duffel bag, and he wasn't going to music class. The Uber driver pulled up to Stoneman Douglas at 2:19 p.m., about 20 minutes before the school day ended. The driver then watched as the young man exited her vehicle and walked into Building 12, otherwise known as the Freshman Building.

Inside, there are three floors, 30 classrooms, and about 900 students patiently waiting for school to get out. It was Valentine's Day, so there was a bit of excitement in the air. Some students were carrying roses or teddy bears. Others were writing love notes to their crushes. But no one suspected that their Valentine's Day would end the way that it did.

After the young man got out of his Uber, he walked inside of the school looking like an average student. He was wearing the school's JROTC shirt that members wore every Wednesday. And because it was a Wednesday, he blended in. He then walked into the stairwell, put on some black goggles and a vest, and then pulled out his AR-15. Since there was only about 20 minutes left in the school day, there weren't many people in the halls.

But there was one student named Chris McKenna who happened to run into the gunman as he loaded up his AR-15 in the stairwell. In the school security footage, you can see Chris walk up and it looks like he's about to head upstairs before the two make eye contact. Alarmed, Chris kind of takes a step backwards. Then the gunman looks at him and says, "Get out of here." - Walked into the staircase.

And I walked into a man. He was wearing a maroon shirt with a J.R.O.T. shirt with a backpack and a hat on, black pants. He had a rifle in his hands. I walked. I was stunned. That's one second.

And he said to me, "Get out of here. Things are about to get bad." Chris McKenna quickly steps out of the stairwell and runs outside of the building to tell the assistant football coach, Aaron Feis, about what he just saw. But by that point, it's already too late. In the security footage, at 2:21 p.m., you can see that as soon as Chris McKenna steps out of the stairwell,

The gunman walks into the hallway and raises his AR-15 towards a group of students. It was 14 year old Martin Duque, 15 year old Luke Hoyer, and 14 year old Gina Montalto.

Startled, they ran towards room 215 and started banging on the door, trying to get away from the gunman. Inside of room 215, a girl named Anna Martins had just finished her schoolwork for the day and was listening to music when she heard loud knocks on her classroom door. Since she sits at the back of the room, it was her job to open the door, which was always locked from the outside.

So, Anna pauses her music and stands up to go open the door. But as she does, sounds of gunshots echo throughout the hallway. And suddenly, everyone inside of room 215 drops to the ground and begins to hide under their desks. On the outside of the room, the gunman shoots towards the three students who are banging on the door.

Gina was a freshman in high school with a very promising future. That morning before she left for school, her parents gave her a box of chocolate roses for Valentine's Day and a sweet heartfelt card. Then they sent her off to school, completely unaware that they would never see their daughter again. Her mom, Jennifer, said in an interview for the documentary Inside Building 12 that Gina was the first one to make friends with anyone she encountered in her life.

If you were new and crossed her path, she would say, Hi, how are you? I'm Gina. Welcome. And that was evident from first grade. Gina was known to always help the people around her, even when it was an inconvenience. She was the type of girl to always try and cheer other people up, even if she didn't know you. When asked what her parents would say to Gina, if they could have one more conversation with her, they said, We would tell her the same thing we told her when she left for school that morning. We love you and we will see you soon.

After the gunman shot Gina in front of room 215, he then points his gun towards Martin. Martin was a freshman at Stoneman Douglas, and his family actually came from Mexico. His dream was to work really hard, become a Navy SEAL, and with his success, he wanted to turn it around and give his parents a good life because of the sacrifices they made for him. Martin was in JROTC, and he had a very kind spirit. Friends of his said that he was always checking up on them.

making sure that everyone around him was okay. His brother would later tell CNN, "He was a very funny kid, outgoing and sometimes really quiet. He was sweet and caring and loved by all his family. Most of all, he was my baby brother." - After Gina and Martin were gunned down in the hallway, the gunman then turns his AR-15 towards Luke, who is still knocking on the door, trying to get to safety. - Luke was a freshman at Stoneman Douglas,

and a very talented basketball player. He was described by his friends and family as a sweet kid and someone who you could always rely on if you were having a bad day. He was a great listener and he was very close with his family. Luke's cousin said that he was an amazing individual, always happy, always smiling. His smile was contagious and so was his laugh. - Luke is my youngest of three, he's 15. Luke was a very, very sweet, kind boy.

very shy at times, but he was just kind of starting to come out of his shell. He liked to joke a lot with his friends. Luke loved being with his family. Luke started playing basketball at a very young age. I think he was first grade. I'm watching him like, "Wow, Luke's got some good basketball skills." His teammates were always special to him.

All the boys, all were the band. And Luke even had a friend stand in for him the whole rest of the season so they could be a team. Learning a lot, you know, since his passing from his friends about what he was like when he was not around us. Luke actually played basketball with a little boy at the park sometimes who was autistic. Didn't know that until the other day. He loved big. Always had a big presence in everyone's life. I'm going to miss him.

But I know he's in heaven looking at us now and can't believe all this is going on. Gina, Martin, and Luke were the first three victims of the Parkland school shooting. And their bodies would all be found lying next to one another outside of room 215. Now, down the hallway was another student named Ashley Baez, who was just coming out of the restrooms when the gunshots rang out.

After killing the first three students, the gunman then shoots at her. One of the bullets hits Ashley, but she's somehow able to run over to room 210, where her classmates bring her to safety. The gunman then aims his AR-15 towards room 216, the classroom directly across from where his first three victims lay.

Inside was Ms. Haas' class, who were absolutely terrified after hearing the gunshots in the hallway. The gunman then shoots out the window on the door of their class. He sticks the barrel through the broken window and begins spraying bullets throughout the room. Victoria Alvarez, who was in room 216, said that she quote, "...remembered everyone throwing themselves on the floor."

crawling to wherever we felt the safest, behind the teacher's desk, across the floor, wherever, end quote. In the documentary Inside Building 12, the teacher of this classroom, Ms. Dara Haas, said, quote, My classroom was the first classroom that was shot into. When the first shots were heard, honestly, I thought it was a drill, because something like this just can't be real, end quote.

Ms. Haas said that it wasn't until she saw her injured students when she realized that it was real. As the bullets flew throughout the classroom, three students were injured and one was killed instantly. It was 14-year-old Alex Schachter. According to the students in the class, Alex didn't even realize what was happening when he was hit with a bullet. He didn't even have a chance to get up and hide.

After he was shot, he slumped over in his desk, bleeding everywhere, while the rest of his class got down on the ground. Two of the students next to him were injured from shrapnel. One student had shrapnel in his head and another had it all down his arm. And both of them were covered in Alex's blood. I just remember feeling a sensation on the back of my head, like a hot sensation.

And I just realized I was in danger. The people next to me were like, oh, are you okay? You know, do you feel like you're going to die or, you know, something like that. And then I was just sitting there and then I looked straight ahead of me and I saw Alex Shackner passed away over his desk, kind of like half of his body broken.

There was like a metal bar on the desk and half of his body was off the bar and the other half was like still kind of in his seat. And I saw a pile of blood like forming under him and I saw his body not spasming, but more like trying to take his like final breaths.

And then at that moment, you know, it started getting more real. Alex was a freshman in the school's marching band. He loved to play basketball and the trombone. And he was a very bright and hardworking kid. His father, Max, would say on Inside Building 12, Alex went through a lot of heartache. When he was four years old, his mom passed away suddenly.

Then it was just Ryan, Alex, and I. Several years later, I met a wonderful woman whose husband had passed away. We fell in love and we decided to move to Parkland because we thought that they had the safest schools and the best neighborhood and we thought we would have a good life. After hearing that his son passed away in the school shooting, Max and his family were devastated and he would go on to be a huge activist fighting for safety within our schools. He would later say...

It's been 19 years since Columbine and nothing has been done. After 9/11, we hardened the cockpits and we hardened the airports. We created the TSA. After the Oklahoma City bombing, we created another agency to develop standards so that we can harden federal buildings. We need to harden our schools just like we harden our airports and our federal buildings. That is the way we make our schools safe. So that teachers can teach and children can learn without the fear of dying in their classrooms.

When asked what his last memory with Alex was, Max recalled it was the night before the shooting. He went into his son's room, kissed him goodnight, and told him that he loved him. Shortly after Alex was murdered inside of room 216, 911 calls started pouring in to dispatch. 911, it's an emergency. Help! Help! Help! Help! Help! Help! Help! Help! Help! Help! Help! Help! Help! Help! Help! Help! Help! Help! Help! Help! Help! Help! Help! Help! Help! Help! Help! Help! Help! Help! Help! Help! Help! Help! Help! Help! Help! Help! Help! Help! Help! Help! Help! Help! Help! Help! Help! Help! Help! Help! Help! Help! Help! Help! Help! Help! Help! Help! Help! Help! Help! Help! Help! Help! Help! Help! Help! Help! Help! Help! Help! Help! Help! Help! Help! Help! Help! Help! Help! Help! Help! Help! Help! Help! Help! Help! Help! Help! Help! Help! Help! Help! Help! Help! Help! Help! Help! Help! Help! Help! Help! Help! Help! Help! Help! Help! Help! Help! Help! Help! Help! Help! Help! Help! Help! Help! Help! Help! Help! Help! Help! Help! Help! Help! Help! Help! Help! Help! Help! Help! Help! Help! Help! Help! Help! Help! Help! Help! Help! Help! Help! Help! Help! Help! Help! Help! Help! Help! Help! Help! Help! Help! Help! Help! Help! Help! Help! Help! Help! Help! Help! Help! Help! Help! Help! Help! Help! Help! Help! Help! Help! Help! Help! Help! Help! Help! Help! Help! Help! Help! Help! Help! Help! Help! Help! Help! Help! Help! Help! Help! Help

Okay, is anybody injured? Yes, yes, a lot of blood. Please help, please. Is being shot up? Are you at the school? I can't hear you. Are you at the school? 911, what's your birthday?

Hello, we're at Stoneman Douglas High School and I think there's a shooter. Hello? You still there? Talk to me please. 911, what is your emergency? Yes, I just got a call from Douglas High School. A female on the line, they believe there's a shooter at the school. Okay, at Douglas High School in what city? Yeah, it's in Parkland. It's 901-950-9501.

59-01 Pine Island? Yes. Okay, let me see if they're working anything there. Added second-hand information from a student. A female called in. It sounded like possible shots in the background. I think I heard five or six in two different bursts.

17 Juliet 3, 17 Bravo 3, 17 Bravo 4. 17 Juliet 3, we have possible, could be firecrackers, I think we got shots fired. Possible shots fired, 1200 building.

It had only been about 30 seconds into the shooting when the students in room 214 heard the glass shatter from their classroom door. Their class was located directly next to room 215, where the first three victims were shot.

Upon hearing the gunshots, students inside of room 215 quickly split up into two groups. One of the groups went to one corner of the class, and the other group went to a different corner. A girl named Aliyah Eastman said, quote,

Half of us went to what I call the safe corner, which was out of view of the window, and the other half of us went to what I call the bad corner, because we were in complete view of the window that was in the door. For me, it was what I saw first. I saw that corner first, and I just ran there." But it didn't take these students long to realize that they were in the wrong corner.

One of the girls, 17-year-old Helena Ramsey, began telling the people around her to grab books to shield them from the bullets, but sadly they wouldn't do much to help. Shortly after the window was busted out, the gunman pointed the barrel of his gun inside of the room and began shooting in all different directions.

Now, trigger warning, we are going to play you a video that one of the students took from inside room 214. But just a warning, it is incredibly disturbing. In this video, you see students on the ground as gunpowder fills the class.

And this audio really opened my eyes to what a mass shooting actually sounds like. We always hear stories about how loud the shots actually are, but I never really thought about it until I saw this video. Now, while these shots were ringing out, the teacher of room 214, Mrs. Shamus, said that she was positive the gunman was going to enter the class.

All he had to do was reach his arm through the broken window and pull the handle and then he could get inside. She could see the door from where she was sitting and she kept expecting it to open. What was she going to do if he stepped inside? She would later tell the Inside Building 12 documentary that she planned on yelling out, "We love you because how can you shoot people who love you?" she said.

Over the next few seconds, bullets continued to fly through the room and people in the bad corner were the targets. By the time the gunshots stopped, four students were injured. Elia Eastman was standing behind her friend Helena who had told her to guard herself with books when suddenly, Elia sees Helena slumped to the ground.

Helena had been fatally hit by a bullet. Helena was a junior at Stoneman Douglas and everyone described her as having a huge heart. She was very passionate about animals and environmental issues. Helena was British and was always very proud of her heritage. The people closest to her said she was very adventurous and thoughtful. She always remembered the smallest details about someone because she genuinely cared about them. Curtis Page Jr., who was a family member of Helena's, would later say,

Helena's cousin would later write,

Immediately after Helena died in room 214, her friend, Elia Eastman, watched as the boy standing next to her was fatally hit with a bullet as well. It was 17-year-old Nicholas Dorrit.

Nick was a senior at Stoneman Douglas and he was described as having a heart of gold and being very goal-oriented. Nick was the captain of Stoneman Douglas' swim team and he was a very talented swimmer, so much so that he had recently accepted a scholarship at his dream school, the University of Indiana.

Nick's friends said that he was a class clown, always cracking jokes and making people laugh. They also said that he wanted to make a difference in the world, and his biggest dream in life was to eventually swim in the Olympics. But those dreams would never come to fruition.

because he was gunned down that day in his classroom. For a sport that's known for its loud cheers, today the UND swim and dive team athletes were silent. We all wish he was here. As they honored a future teammate they never really got to know. Fun, lighthearted, and positive, which is what we kind of felt Nick was. What would have been Nick Dwart's swim cap and his favorite snack, Oreos, were laid out on a table with a plaque in his name next to the pool where he was supposed to swim.

Those cards with a quote, something that he wrote in his journal that his parents found. The team donning swim for Nick Capps all season in honor of a fun-loving, driven teammate they say had a bright future. Aliyah Eastman had just watched as Nick and Helena died right next to her. She told Inside Building 12 that as soon as she saw Nick drop to the ground, she went into survival mode.

Elia quickly got on the ground and draped Nick's body over hers. She then said a quick prayer, asking God that if she was going to die that day, that she would die a quick and painless death. Everyone in the room was sure that the gunman was about to reach his arm through and open the door. The students started to prepare themselves that everyone in their class was about to die.

But after about 20 seconds of gunshots, the room became painfully quiet and the gunman moves on to the next class.

Here is a 911 call from someone inside of room 214. Can you hear where the shots are coming from? It was in the hallway. They were shooting into my classroom. They're shooting into your classroom? They were. Okay, do you hear the shots now? What is it? 1214. 1214? Yeah.

After shooting up room 214, the gunman walks back over to room 216, where he had already shot and killed Alex Schachter and injured three others. The students were still hiding under their desks around the room.

when they started to hear the gunshots getting closer. Then suddenly, bullets start to fly through the window once again. One of them hit 14-year-old Alyssa Aladef.

who was hiding in the back of the classroom. Alyssa was a freshman at Stoneman Douglas and she had a passion for soccer. She had been playing the sport since she was three years old and she was very talented. Her mother Lori told Inside Building 12, "Alyssa was beautiful. She had a zest for life. She took every opportunity she could to be active with her friends. She loved the ocean and walking on the beach. She was really smart. She had 12 high school credits as a freshman. She could make anyone laugh."

That morning, Lori had dropped off her daughter at school and the last words they said to each other were, "I love you." After finding out that her daughter was one of the victims, Lori said, "Alyssa was a beautiful, smart, talented, successful, awesome, amazing soccer player. You'll be greatly missed, Alyssa. We love you so much. You'll always, always be in our hearts." - The morning that I dropped Alyssa off at school and let her go, was the last time I would see her live.

She will never play another soccer game. She will never get her license and drive, marry or have children of her own. Alyssa has so much to offer this world, yet she will never have the opportunity to share those qualities of herself with others.

The world became a lot darker that day for my family and the families of the other 16 victims because of the mass shooting and failures to protect their loved ones here at MSD. Standing next to Alyssa in room 1216 was 14-year-old Elena Petty, and she too was struck and killed by a bullet.

making her the third murder victim inside of this room. Elena was a freshman at Stoneman Douglas who was involved in the JROTC. Her friends described her as beautiful, graceful, and confident. She had a really good sense of humor and was always making conversation with the people around her. Her family said that Elena was passionate about volunteer work and that she loved to serve. In fact, months earlier when Hurricane Irma hit Florida, she had made sure to show up and help her city.

in the areas that had been affected. Elena's family would later say, while we will not have the opportunity to watch her grow up and become the amazing woman we know she would become, we are keeping an eternal perspective. It's hard to think back on that day. It was the worst day of Ryan Petty's life. I started getting text messages that there was a school shooting. I immediately thought, well, okay, this is a, you know,

This has got to be a false alarm. It wasn't. His wife told him she couldn't reach their daughter, Elena. We were looking at the Find My Friends app, and her phone wasn't moving, and so we started to suspect the worst. How'd it have been the hardest thing you've ever dealt with? By an order of magnitude. The idea that you can send your child to school...

in the morning and that they're not going to come home is just, it's not a thought any parent wants to entertain. And I want to take a second to describe the layout of Building 12 so you have an understanding of the scene.

There is a really well put together diagram of the inside of the building and you can see where the shooter was, where all of the victims were located, and we will be putting that on our Instagram so if you want to take a look at it right now, you'll see that the gunman entered the school on the right side of the building. And all of the classes he's been shooting into have been on the right side as well.

And as of now, the gunman is slowly making his way down the hallway towards the left side. Now, keep in mind, at this point we are only about one minute into the shooting. After hearing the gunshots, Stoneman Douglas' athletic director, 49-year-old Chris Hickson, walks into the first floor hallway to investigate.

Now, like we mentioned, if you're looking down at the diagram, the gunman is coming in from the right and Chris Hickson walks in from the left. And shortly after he steps into the hallway, bullets come flying in his direction. Chris is hit by one of these bullets, but he's still alive, bleeding out on the floor.

Now in the middle of the hallway is room 1213 where Ms. Riaven's class had been waiting in fear. After the first gunshots rang out that day, her class started to panic and the students ran towards the wall that was in view of the window. Ms. Riaven then yells at her students to go in the other direction away from the window.

Which was really smart because if you look at the layout you'll see that almost all of the victims who died inside of the classrooms were in direct view of the window. The students who hid away from the window were never hit with the bullets. But while the students are hiding in room 1213, one student, Danielle Gilbert, used this time to call her mom.

When her mom picked up the phone, Danielle was in shock and all she could manage to say was "Shoot her, shoot her." Knowing these could be her daughter's last moments, her mom did her best to try and calm her down, telling Danielle to breathe. Now at this time, there was so much smoke from the gunfire that the fire alarm actually went off. But the students on this floor obviously knew not to evacuate.

And shortly after the alarm went off, bullets would go flying into room 1213. Here is some audio taken from students inside of this classroom. Note the gunshots getting closer and closer. ♪♪

As the students in room 1213 hear the gunshots getting closer, they begin to realize that their class is most likely next. And then they heard the window to their classroom shatter, followed by gunshots flying through the room. Once the gunfire stopped, the room was mostly quiet, and everyone thought that maybe the shots missed, and everyone was safe.

But after a few moments, they start to hear moaning. When they looked up, their classmate Maddie Wilford was bleeding from a gunshot wound on the floor. But Maddie would be one of the few to survive her injuries. She would later tell Inside Building 12, quote, "All of a sudden I felt the bullet hit me, and all I could think of was, 'I'm not ready to die yet. Why me?' I was so shocked that I got shot."

And there's actually a video of Maddie in the classroom after she got shot and it is very disturbing so we will post this on our Patreon. We can't post it on our Instagram because it will get taken down but luckily Maddie survives. Another classmate, Ben, had also been shot but he would go on to survive as well.

Then they look over at 16-year-old Carmen Shintrup, who was lying face down in a pool of blood. The students go to help Carmen, but as they got closer, it was clear she was dead.

Carmen was a senior at Stoneman Douglas and she was one week shy of her 17th birthday. Her loved ones said that she was very witty with a great sense of humor and absolutely brilliant. Carmen always made straight A's and on the day of her murder, she was actually awarded the National Merit Scholarship.

In addition, Carmen was president of her school's a cappella group. Her teachers said that she was a beautiful, brilliant, introspective, lovely young lady. Her family said that she had big dreams of graduating high school and becoming a medical researcher to help find a cure for ALS. Carmen was known to always wear winged eyeliner and red lipstick, and after her death, her friends made sure to wear her signature look at graduation.

Hi there. My name is Robert Shentrup and I'm the brother of Carmen Shentrup, one of the 17 victims of the Marjory Stillman Douglas school shooting on February 14th, 2018. Carmen was just 16 at the time that she was killed, but she was a senior about to graduate who was looking forward to going to school, to become a medical researcher, to study

how ALS came about and how we could help combat the disease as we lost a family member when we were both quite young to ALS and Carmen lost her choir director and piano teacher to ALS as well. After shooting into room 1213, the gunman continued to make his way down the hall and he's headed towards the stairs so he can make his way up to the second floor.

But on his way over, he sees Athletic Director Chris Hickson injured on the ground. He then points his gun at him a second time and pulls the trigger, killing him instantly.

Chris Hickson was 49 years old and he left behind his wife and two sons. He was a Navy veteran who proudly served his country and after he left the Navy, he decided to work as the athletic director and wrestling coach at Stoneman Douglas. According to his wife, Debra, Chris was probably the best man that I know. Every one of those students he thought of as his own kid. He just loved being around kids and giving back to the community.

Chris Hickson had a huge heart. He was known for giving students rides to school, giving them lunch money if they needed it. And when his colleagues found out that Chris ran into the building during the shooting, it didn't surprise any of them. They said that anytime there was a problem, Chris was always the first person to try and fix it. He was a problem solver and an incredibly hard worker. He was passionate about his job, and he would have done anything for the students at Stoneman Douglas.

Chris Hickson, dime, a hero. His first response was just to go. Just to go. So I don't know if it was over the radio. I don't exactly know what put him into motion.

But his response was to run in there and take care of whatever the problem was. And I just knew it. Chris was doing his job when he ran in that building. There was an issue and his job was to minimize the issue. So I'm so mad at him for doing that. I mean, honestly, but it's also what...

probably made me be in love with him, you know, just... It wasn't even a thought. I'm sure it wasn't a thought. It was just an immediate response that he had. You know, he was a trained, like I said, he was a trained military officer. He was in the reserves. He was... It was just his personality. So it's hard to be too mad, I guess.

After shooting Chris, the gunman then makes his way towards the stairs on the left side of the building. But just as he's about to go up the stairs, the assistant football coach, 37-year-old Aaron Feis, runs into the gunman in the stairwell. Now, remember Chris McKenna, the guy who ran into the gunman in the other stairwell before the shooting started? Well, he ran outside and told Aaron Feis about the shooter.

And after hearing that, Aaron literally ran towards the sound of gunfire to try and save the students. But unfortunately, unbeknownst to him, when he walked inside of the school, he would come face to face with the gunman in that stairwell. And it was there where he was fatally shot.

Now, this next part is very disturbing, but because Aaron was just feet away from the shooter, his body actually flew outside of the building after he was shot. - Aaron Feist was a beloved member of his community and he left behind his wife and young daughter. He was also very respected at Stoneman Douglas.

He actually graduated from there in 1999 and decided to be their football coach years later. If you asked anybody who knew him, they would say that he was passionate about his job. He was also the kind of person that would always help the students out wherever he could. If someone was running late to class, he would give them a ride to their building on his golf cart. He would talk to students if they were going through a rough time. And someone even stated that they considered him to be a father figure in their life. Someone they could always go to.

One student said, "That's Coach Feist. He wants to make sure everybody is safe before himself. He made sure everyone else's needs were met before his own. He was a hard worker. He worked after school, on the weekends, mowing lawns, just helping as many people as possible."

Aaron Feiss is one of the many heroes in this story. He ran towards the gunfire when the other officials were running away. A student later said, "He died the same way he lived. He put himself second. He was a very kind soul, a very nice man. He died a hero."

I didn't want to believe it. I didn't want to, you know, I didn't want for it to be true.

I love him. I love him and things are going to be real hard and difficult, you know, to go back to school and not be able to see my buddy. What was he for the football team? Say someone messed up, he wouldn't come over screaming at you. He'd come over, tell you what you did wrong, tell you how you could do it right. Great coach, great man, put a smile on my face every single day. If you could have told Coach Fy something before he left us, what would you have told him? I would thank him for everything he's done for us.

all the countless times told him everything like spilled out my heart my chest like he was always there for me coach may have you thought about it what you would tell him i'll miss him i'm missing him every day aaron feist would be the last victim on floor one of building 12. the gunman was only on the first floor for two minutes and 13 seconds but during that time

He managed to injure 13 people and murder 11. - At 2:23 p.m., two minutes into the shooting, the gunman went up the stairs onto the second floor. Now, luckily, after hearing the gunshots below, the teachers and students on this floor were given enough time to clear out the hallways, turn off the lights to their classrooms, and find hiding spots.

In addition to that, almost half of the classrooms were completely empty on floor 2. So when the gunman walked through the halls, peering through the classroom doors, he didn't see any targets. All the students on this floor were quiet as the gunman walked through the hallway. Now, he did shoot into rooms 1231 and 1234, hoping to make some people scream so he could find out where to shoot. But luckily, those rooms were empty.

In one of those rooms, a teacher that was hiding with her students actually heard the gunman say, "No one is here." So it's evident that he thought the second floor was empty. And after only spending 51 seconds walking through the hall, the gunman goes up the stairwell to the third floor. Now, the people on the second floor were given enough time to hide because they heard the gunshots right below them.

But the teachers and students on the third floor, they couldn't hear the shots as well, so they didn't get that warning. However, they did hear something. But like many instances of mass shootings, people don't really know what's happening at first. Some people thought that the gunshots sounded like a computer cart rolling down the hallway. They definitely didn't think that there was a shooter in the school.

Here is some audio of students on the third floor trying to figure out what the sound was. Bro, what the... I know you... I know you guys hear that. It sounded like somebody in the bathroom. With the muffled popping sounds in the background, the classes on the third floor assumed that it wasn't dangerous and they continued on with their lessons.

One teacher named Kim Krawczyk was doing some math problems with her class when one of her students named Leah Serrano asked to use the restroom. Mrs. Krawczyk told her she could, but at this point in the day, the restrooms on their floor were locked. So she was going to have to go to the second floor to use the restroom. Mrs. Krawczyk then gave her the pass and Leah walked out.

But as she was walking down the stairs to use the restroom, she heard the pops grow louder. Leah glances over the railing and she doesn't see anything. And she still didn't know that the sound she was hearing was gunshots. But whatever was happening in the school was making her feel unsafe. So she decided to walk back to her classroom. Now back in the third floor classrooms, it was starting to become clear that the sound was gunfire. But everyone still thought that it was a drill.

No one assumed that there was an actual shooter. You see, that morning the teachers were told that they were going to have a drill, specifically a code red drill, which meant that there was a threat on campus. But they had already had a drill that very morning, so it was weird that they were having another one 20 minutes before the school day let out. But regardless, they continued to follow protocol.

And the protocol for when there's a threat in the building is that you're not supposed to open the door under any circumstance. And I think I've mentioned this before, but my mom is a third grade teacher and she's told me that if there's ever a shooter in the building, it doesn't matter if one of her students is out in the hallway banging on her door begging to be let in. She is not allowed to open it.

because opening the door can endanger all of the other students that are still inside the class. And as disturbing as that is, it's just the rule so that they could minimize casualties. So when Leah ran back to her classroom and started banging on the door, begging to be let in, at first, no one answered because that's protocol. Then she desperately yelled out, "'Guys, it's me, Leah. Please let me back in.'"

And luckily for her, someone did. Her teacher, Ms. Krawczyk, even joked with her saying, "If I get an F in conduct because I let a kid in the room during a drill, I'm not gonna be happy."

So it's clear that nobody really knew what was happening on the floors beneath them. Now, it was around this time when the fire alarm went off. And like we mentioned, Stoneman Douglas had already had a fire drill that morning. And you usually don't have two in one day. One of the teachers on this floor, named Ernie Rozpierski, said that he and his students were very confused. But we've been told when the fire alarm goes off, you evacuate. So everyone starts leaving the room.

Slowly but surely, as the gunman is walking through the second floor of building 12, the students and teachers on the third floor begin to fill the halls and make their way towards the stairwells so they can evacuate the building.

No one had any idea that a gunman would start making his way up the stairs at around the same time that they were going down them. By this point, law enforcement is aware of the shooting, but there's still some confusion and miscommunication. - I just had one of the fire admin go by and make reference to an active shooter at Douglas. Anything to that? - 10-4, Kilo 23, there is an active shooter working at Douglas. Multiple gunshots are being fired.

We can hear them in the background. Our 911 lines are blowing up. We have multiple units on the phone. Some are giving EMD and it's confirmed. Back on the third floor, Mrs. Stacey LaPelle said that upon hearing the fire alarm, she grabbed her emergency folder and her phone and she told her class where to meet up: outside. At this point, the hallway was filled with students starting to make their way downstairs.

But suddenly, the entire crowd stopped in their tracks. There was a brief moment of silence and then chaos as all of the children started running back to their classrooms. They had all seen the gunman coming upstairs with his AR-15. Mrs. LaPelle, whose classroom was two rooms away from the stairs, said, "...all of a sudden I see the shooter emerge from the stairwell."

And I just remember looking at him and just looking at this figure that is so menacing. His face was covered. I described him as wearing a gas mask because that's what it looked like to me at the time. But his face was definitely covered. His head was definitely covered. I didn't see any skin. He was black from head to toe. Black vest, black pants."

The gunmen then start shooting down the hallway while students are scrambling to get back into their classrooms. But the worst part was that the rooms automatically lock from the outside, so teachers were panicking, trying to quickly unlock their doors. Mrs. LaPelle and the teacher next door to her, Mr. Scott Beagle, were standing next to their doors, ushering students back inside.

But as they did so, the gunman pointed his AR-15 in their direction. Mrs. LaPelle would later say, "I remember screaming to Scott Beagle, who was right next door to me, doing the exact same thing I was doing. And I remember yelling at him to shut his door because he didn't have a good visual of the shooter like I did. And I closed my door. I just know I gotta get this door shut."

End quote.

Mrs. LaPelle was hit by a bullet, but she would end up surviving. She tried to warn Scott Beagle to shut his door, but he was still letting children inside of the classrooms, and he wasn't going to shut the door until all of the children were safe. But right when the last student ran inside of the class, Scott was hit by a bullet.

and he died instantly scott was 35 years old and he was a geography teacher and cross-country coach at stoneman douglas his loved ones described him as very unique humble and funny according to everyone scott had a very dry sense of humor but he was always coming up with these one-liners that would always make everyone laugh his mom said that scott was always trying to cheer everyone up if he saw someone was having a bad day he would sit with them and let them vent because he cared many

Many people refer to Scott as a hero because he literally put his life on the line to save his students. And Scott's father says that yes, his son was a hero that day, February 14th. But he was also a hero on the 13th, 12th, and 11th. Because his whole being was to have an impact on kids. After the shooting, one of Scott's students talked to CNN about how her teacher saved her life. Kelsey, can you tell us about Mr. Beagle, your geography teacher? Mr. Beagle was...

My hero and he still will forever be my hero. I will never forget the actions that he took for me and for fellow students in the classroom. And if his family is watching this, please know that your son or your brother was an amazing person and I am alive today because of him. Thank you for bringing and having this amazing person in life and giving him the power to be stronger than I could have ever been.

When Inside Building 12 asked Scott's mom what she would say to Scott if she was given another moment with him, she said, I hope that at this moment you can honestly open your eyes and realize how important you are to so many people. I love you.

I love being your mom through the good times and the bad times. You need to look in the mirror and you need to see how special you really are. He was just the best teacher ever. He automatically made you smile no matter what he said, you know. He always had to come back to everything. He was a great man and most importantly he was a hero to a lot of people. And I still don't believe it. Like, I still think I'm going to go back to his class and everything, but...

Yeah, it still hasn't hit me. And it was just too, it's too shocking to hit me. He didn't, nobody deserved it, especially him. He was hands down like favorite teacher ever. Yeah, I think time is what's going to heal all of us, if it even does. Just walking into the Mr. Beagle's classroom and not him, like him not being there. I'm not walking. Walking into that front door where he was, where he passed, you know, how are we supposed to do that?

without bawling into tears. - Down the hallway, students were still running, trying to get inside of classrooms. According to Ms. McCow, in room 1250, there were about 70 students just in her small little room. One of the students that was running down the hall was David Zafrani, who was with his friend, Joaquin Oliver. David would end up making it out safely, but Joaquin was shot.

Now, he didn't die right then, but he was severely injured on the ground in the hallway. Joaquin crawled over to the restrooms to try and get to safety, but if you remember, the restrooms on the third floor were locked, so there was nowhere for him to go, and he just laid there on the floor while the gunmen continued to fire at his classmates.

Up ahead, Mr. Ernie Raspierski was scrambling to try and find his keys when the sound of gunfire came in his direction. He was grazed with two bullets, one in the eye and the other in the hip. Three other students, Kara Lofren, Meadow Pollack, and Anthony Borges were hit and injured as well.

Now Mr. Ernie Raspierski was in a bad situation because not only had he been grazed by bullets, but he also couldn't find his keys. He said that he normally kept them on a necklace around his neck, but for whatever reason, they weren't there and he and about 12 students were locked out of the room and stuck in the hallway.

And by this point, all of the other classrooms were closed, so there was nowhere for any of them to go. Charlie Mann from Inside Building 12 asked Ernie, quote, the fact that you locked yourself outside of your classroom, how did that affect things moving forward? Ernie responds, quote, honestly, I made a mistake, and it's something I've been dealing with. But I've been avoiding the could-haves and should-haves, and I've been dealing with what did happen.

Now, the gunman was about 25 feet away, but through the gunpowder, Ernie saw that his AR-15 was pointed up in the air, most likely because it was jammed. So Ernie yells out to the 12 children in the hallway to make a run for the left stairwell. Now, three of the students, Kara, Meadow, and Anthony couldn't run because they were injured. But the rest of the 10 followed their teacher's instructions and began to run.

As soon as they did, however, bullets started flying in their direction. Well, when I saw it was not a drill, the first thing I was yelling at my kids was to get to cover. When I was in the middle of the hallway at the time and I saw him

point his gun at one of my former students. I saw him go down and then I grabbed all my kids I could and pushed them into our doors have a little alcove in front of them and I grabbed my kids and pushed them in there because it was the only cover I could find and four or five shots later

One of the students that was running for the stairs was Kyle Lamon, and as he ran he was hit in the ankle. His foot was nearly blown off, but with the adrenaline running through his body, he was somehow able to run down the three flights of stairs.

He would later tell the Inside Building 12 documentary. He started going on a rampage on everyone. Pow, pow, pow. Rounds were just going by. Shots going off everywhere. I just dove out of the way and then as I was diving one hit me. Obviously if he had more rounds in I probably would have died. I don't know how I got out but I did. I ran down the stairs three flights and I was out.

Unfortunately, not everybody had the same fate. One student, Peter Wang, was holding open the door to the stairwell when he was fatally struck by a bullet. I personally witnessed one of my kids holding the door, his name is Peter Wang, holding the door, pushing kids through the door while bullets are coming at him. I don't know any many adults who could have done that, let alone a 14-year-old boy. Peter was 15 years old and a freshman at Stoneman Douglas.

People described him as a "gregarious and affable boy who worked really hard in school." Peter was involved in the JROTC and was a very talented sharpshooter. He would later be admitted to his dream school at West Point. And right before he was murdered, Peter was holding the door open for everyone so that they could run down the stairs to safety. He was another hero in this horrific story.

someone who put their life on the line to save someone else. Later on at his funeral, he was presented with the Presidential Medal of Freedom. His mother was the one who put it inside of his casket

and veterans from all over the country came to pay their respects. Right after Peter was killed outside of the left stairwell, a bullet hit Jamie Gutenberg, and she collapsed right as she got to the stairs. Jamie was 14 years old and a freshman at Stoneman Douglas. According to her friends and family, she had the most beautiful smile

and she always wore her heart on her sleeve. Jamie was a very talented dancer and she had dreams of graduating high school and becoming a pediatric physical therapist. She also loved to volunteer and help children with special needs. After her death, here's what Jamie's father had to say. - In October, I lost my brother to cancer from his service to 9/11. That at the time seemed impossible to me. It made no sense. It couldn't happen and it couldn't get worse.

This is worse. This, this is, makes no sense. This is impossible. My girl, my 14 year old baby. And for those of you who know my Jamie, she was the life of the party. She was the energy in the room. She made people laugh. And yes, sometimes she made us cry, but she was always known. She always made her presence felt. I sent her to school yesterday.

She was supposed to be safe. My job is to protect my children. And I sent my kid to school. In the morning, sometimes things get so crazy, she runs out behind and she's like, I gotta go dad, bye. And I don't always get to say, I love you. I don't remember if I said that to Jamie yesterday morning. I love everyone out here.

I thank you all for your outpouring of support. Parents, love your kids, hold your kids, kiss your kids, and don't ever, ever miss the chance to tell them how much you love them. Peter and Jamie died that afternoon on the third floor, and the other students that ran towards the stairs were able to make it outside safely. Kyle, whose foot was nearly shot completely off, ran into an officer on the outside of the building.

When the sergeant saw that Kyle was injured, he grabbed him and assisted him over to the baseball field, where the other students were taking shelter. Okay, look here, I got a victim with a gunshot to the right leg. The gunshot to the right leg, show me the left end of the house, go by the football field.

Once they were out of harm's way, the officer then asked Kyle, "Where is the gunman? What is he using? And what is he wearing?"

Kyle tells him that he was on the third floor. He's wearing black tactical gear. It is now 2.25 p.m.

4 minutes into the shooting, back inside, the gunman continued to make his way down the third floor and he actually passed up Anthony, who was lying on the ground, and walked up to Kara and Meadow in front of Mr. Ernie's locked classroom door.

The gunman then aimed his gun at Kara and shot her, killing her instantly. Kara was a freshman at Stoneman Douglas and she was known for her sweet and compassionate spirit and her love for dancing. She danced at the Drake School of Irish Dancing in South Florida and was very skilled. Her dance studio would later say, "Kara was a beautiful soul and always had a smile on her face. We are heartbroken as we send our love and support to her family during this horrible time.

Her loved one said that Kara was the sweetest girl in the world and didn't have one mean bone in her body. She was fiercely loyal, diligent, and determined. Kara was a member of the Best Buddies Club and very active in her church. After shooting Kara in front of room 1249, the gunman then turns his gun towards Meadow, who was lying right next to her, and he pulls the trigger.

Killing her instantly. Meadow was 18 years old and a senior at Stoneman Douglas who had just been accepted into Lynn University in Boca Raton, Florida. Meadow was an excellent writer and she was known for being extremely bright and creative. The people that knew her said she had a nice and loving soul and a great sense of humor. About a week after the shooting, Meadow's father would give a speech at the White House. Here's what he had to say. We're in here because my daughter has no voice.

She was murdered last week and she was taken from us. Shot nine times on the third floor. We as a country failed our children. This shouldn't happen. We go to the airport. I can't get on a plane with a bottled water, but we leave it. Some animal could walk into a school and shoot our children. I'm very angry that this happened because it keeps happening. 9-11 happened once and they fixed everything.

How many schools, how many children have to get shot? Should have been one school shooting and we should have fixed it. And I'm pissed. Because my daughter I'm not going to see again. She's not here. She's not here. Never going to see my kid again. I want you all to know that. Never ever will I see my kid. That's how I want it to sink in. It's eternity.

Back on the third floor, after shooting Kara and Meadow, the gunman then walks over to Joaquin Oliver, who was lying injured in front of the locked bathrooms. Now, apparently the bathrooms were locked because the school had been having problems with kids smoking in them. So, to avoid that, the school board decided to start locking the first and third floor bathrooms and only having the second floor bathrooms open.

Which ended up being a huge mistake. If that bathroom would have been unlocked, Joaquin could have easily gone inside and hid from the gunman. But because they were locked, there was nowhere for him to go. And when the gunman notices him lying on the floor, he points his AR-15 at him and kills him.

Joaquin would be the final victim on the third floor. Joaquin Oliver was 17 years old and a senior at Stoneman Douglas. If you asked the people closest to him what he was like, they would tell you that he was the life of the party. He was adventurous and always made the best out of every situation. Joaquin was extremely loyal and would always stand up for what is right. He was born in Venezuela and his family moved to the United States when he was three years old and he had just become a naturalized citizen the year before the shooting.

All his close friends called him Guac and he was extremely close to his family, especially his sister. He loved music, sports, and was really looking forward to his future. A future that was brutally taken from him. Today, 17-year-old Joaquin Oliver was laid to rest. At the gardens of Boca Raton, around a thousand came to say goodbye, many of them wearing jerseys to honor Joaquin, who they described as an avid sports fan. - All throughout his life, played sports, really enjoyed it, always had jerseys on in school.

Never caught him without a smile on his face playing sports. He was an all-around great kid and just brought the environment to a happy place. Like, it's just tragedy. After shooting Joaquin, the shooter then walks to the teacher's lounge on the far left side of the hallway, and he tries to find more victims there, but it's empty. He then looks out of the window and sees dozens of kids running to safety, and he decides that he's going to try and kill them.

He attempts to shoot out the window of the teacher's lounge, but they're hurricane-proof, so they don't break. And it was here where the gunmen decided to leave the school.

He spent 3 minutes and 9 seconds on the third floor, killing 6 people and injuring 4. In total, he killed 17 people and wounded 17 others without ever walking into one single class. And at 2:28pm, the shooter then ditches his gun, goggles, and vest, runs down three flights of stairs, and exits out of the school.

And because everything was in complete chaos and everyone was running out of the building at different times, no one even noticed the shooter leave the building. Altogether, the shooting lasted for six minutes and nine seconds. - Over the next few minutes, the students and teachers inside of the school remain as quiet as possible. They aren't sure if the gunman is still inside and they don't want to take any chances. So they wait for help to arrive, all while sitting next to their dead classmates.

There's an eerie silence throughout the halls, but that silence would soon be broken by the injured students calling out for help. On the third floor, Anthony Borges had been shot five times but was still alive bleeding out on the floor. Once he was sure the gunman was gone, he started screaming out for somebody, anybody to come help him.

But the students who were still hiding in their classrooms wouldn't dare open the door. They thought that that was the gunman trying to lure them out into the hallway. So they stayed put while Anthony cried out for help. Here's a clip of some audio from that moment. Unfortunately, the cops wouldn't arrive at Building 12 until 2.32 p.m.

four whole minutes after the shooter left the building. I have the gunshot victim. He's by the entrance on the west side of the school. Do you know where the shooter is? We don't know, but we're in the building. When the cops did finally show up, they would walk into a bloodbath. One by one, they cleared each classroom. I told you to keep your window open. Yeah, breach. Breach. Breach. We told you to keep your window open.

Everyone on the floor! On the floor! As the officers cleared the first floor, they discovered 11 bodies and 13 people wounded. As they entered the classrooms, they found students cowering in the corners. Some were covered in their classmates' blood. The officers quickly picked up the injured students, brought them out of the room, and escorted the other kids to safety.

One girl filmed as the officers entered the class and as she ran out of the building. In the video, you can see bodies of students covering the floor, along with blood everywhere. Out in the hallway, as they run to safety, there are more bodies, along with dozens of bullet casings covering the floor. Here is the audio from that video. Warning, it is disturbing. Three down.

Three injured. Is anybody injured? Yes. Where? Come here. You come up. Can you walk? Where were you shot? Oh, my God. Oh, my God. Oh, my God. Oh, my God. Oh, my God.

Logan, my desk is my water bottle, can you get my phone? With the bag, with the water bottle, next to the balloon. Yes. What's going on? Come on, listen up. Listen up.

come on follow me follow me follow me please

When officers entered 1214, they asked who was injured and Sam Grady stood up. Her teacher said she looked like the scene from Carrie because she was covered in blood from head to toe. Sam was quickly escorted out and the officers reminded the students to not look down as they left the school so that they didn't have to see the bodies of their dead classmates. Here's more audio from this. Sam Grady

The officers then cleared the second floor and evacuated those students, but again, there were no injuries or deaths on this floor. So they moved on to the third story. There, they found six bodies and four people wounded.

As the officers cleared every room on the third floor, the teachers and students had to see the damage all throughout the hallways. Mrs. Kim Krawczyk said that when she walked out to exit the building, quote, "...the first thing I recognized was a path of blood, like someone had been dragged, in front of my doorway. And when I looked up, I saw Scott Beagle in his little alcove."

Many of the children on this floor saw Scott Beagle because their room was right next door. Jesse Vanderames, who was on the third floor, said that the officers instructed them to form a single file line and hold on to the people's shoulders in front of them. As they did that, he said he looked down and saw the bodies of two girls lying on top of one another. These were the bodies of Kara and Meadow.

Jesse said that upon seeing this, he immediately looked away because he knew if he looked at it any longer, he would be even more traumatized. But some students couldn't help but look. Madeline Snyder, who was on the third floor, said that police were telling them to look away, but she couldn't help it. She would later tell Inside Building 12, quote, "...how could you not look at something so terrible?"

"How can you divert your eyes from your friends who are lying on the floor next to you as you're slipping in their own blood? I could never forget that." And now that the building was cleared, the Parkland Police Department started assessing their crime scene and doing their best to find the gunman who had just murdered 17 people at Stoneman Douglas High School.

Now, the gunman would end up getting arrested shortly after he ran away from the school and we will get into his arrest and interrogation more in the next episode but we wanted part one of the Parkland story to be only about the victims. As you know, there were some very powerful and world-changing survivors of Parkland and this episode is for them and the ones that were lost that Valentine's Day of 2018.

Outside of the school there were first responders everywhere. There were injured children on the pavement receiving aid. Some students were roaming around in complete shock while others were breaking down in hysterics. Parents were rushing to the scene trying to find their child and students in nearby buildings were searching through the crowd for their friends. It was a storm of chaos outside of Stoneman Douglas.

And as the minutes ticked by, the parking lot outside slowly started to empty out. The only people left were the victims' families, who were still holding on to hope that their loved one was alive. Many of them texted their children over and over again, hoping for a response. "I heard there was a shooting. Are you okay? Please respond. I'm getting worried. Where are you? I'm at the school."

But text after text, their messages went unanswered. In the hours after the shooting, social media was flooded with posts of concerned friends and family members that read, "Have you seen my son? Daughter is missing after Parkland shooting." But everyone knew that by this point, if they were still missing, it most likely meant they were dead.

Other kids were marking themselves safe on Facebook and it was noticeably silent on the profiles of students that were not. Scott Beagle's mom, Linda, would later tell Inside Building 12, quote, "The first thing I did when I realized what school it was, I texted Scott. There's no reason to worry unless there is a reason to worry, which is my philosophy. I'm not gonna worry unless there's a reason to worry.

And in my mind, I guess denial took over because it couldn't be my son. I got to the car and I put on the news and I did hear in the car that a geography teacher and cross-country coach was shot." Scott's dad, Michael, said the first thing he did was text him. "I got my phone and I said, 'Are you okay?' He didn't answer. Then I said, 'I heard there was a shooting. Are you okay?' He didn't answer.

I called and it went to voicemail. It was around this time when his parents were watching the news and they saw that one of Scott's students say that he was indeed shot. And they knew right then and there that they needed to get on a plane to Florida. His mom would later say, quote, we got on the plane. It was a really long flight. I was trying to convince everybody that it was okay. We're going to get there. We're going to find out where Scott is and we're going to find out.

But by the time their plane landed in Florida, they still hadn't heard from their son and they knew right then and there that it wasn't good. If Scott was okay, he definitely would have found a way to reach out and let them know. But they were still holding on to hope that maybe he was just really injured. Maybe he was in surgery or something.

When his family arrived in Florida, they were brought to a command center where many of the other victims' families were waiting for the news. Scott's parents said that some people were in hysterics, others were extremely quiet, keeping to themselves. And one by one, the police department brought families back and gave them the horrific news that their loved one was dead.

For Scott's family, they weren't called back until 3:00 a.m. When they finally did call them back, they brought them into a circle where law enforcement made up half the circle and his family made up the other half. They then looked at Scott's mom and told her that her son died a hero. Linda recalled feeling the need to throw up, but she didn't want to do it in front of everyone, so she walked to the back of the room, threw up in a trash can,

gathered herself, and then came back. She wanted to ask some questions. The first being, "When can I see my son?" There were many questions that were asked over the next few days. Like, how could this have happened? Why weren't our children protected? And where did it all go wrong?

And it would take law enforcement a while to provide these answers. And we will get into it more on the next episode, but by the end of it all, there's more questions than there are answers. Over the next few weeks, the city of Parkland went into mourning. There was a lot of healing that needed to be done, a lot of outrage, and even more people that were motivated to demand change within our country.

No one should have died that Valentine's Day of 2018. 17 people went to school that day and never came back home. They should have been protected. They should have been safe inside of their school. And they should still be here today.

We are going to end today's episode right here because like I said we wanted part one to be about the victims but in the next episode we are going to talk about the gunman's arrest, his interrogation, his upbringing,

We're going to talk about the police failures, security failures, the entire March for Our Lives movement that came about after this tragedy. And we're also going to talk about the gunman's death penalty trial, which actually just started this past Monday, July 18th, 2022. So make sure you listen to next week's episode. And again, we love you guys. Stay safe. And thanks for listening.

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Hey, everybody. It's Colin here. Thank you for tuning in to another episode of Murder in America. We're getting close to 100. That's pretty crazy. I mean, we have gained such an amazing fan base over the last year and a half of doing this show, and we're so thankful. We love listening to comments that you guys have about the show. There are things that we've actually changed about the podcast that we've learned from some of you guys. So we're always listening, and we love hearing feedback. But if you're interested in learning more about the show,

If you have the time, head over to Apple. What would you call that? The Apple podcast app. Yeah. And give us a five-star review if you can. We want to boost those reviews and get that golden five-star rating. I want to shout out all of our patrons this week. Jess Emmons, Nancy Hargrove, Phoebe Mora, Melissa Maracle, Michelle Rosenberg, Bonnie Marinelli, Megan Little, Haley Sutton, Madison Sanchez, Chloe, Jillian Cayley, Samantha Givens,

Madison Rafferty, Lauren Campbell, Elizabeth Ashley King, Crystal McPherson, Tony Ica, Anya Hawk, Austin, and Liam DeBolt. Wow, that is a lot of patrons in one week. So if you don't know what Patreon is, just head to Patreon and type in Murder in America. We post the ad-free version of every episode right when these episodes go live on all streaming platforms. So if you don't like the ads...

Sign up to be a patron and help support the show. We're so thankful to have all of y'all on there. But if you want to follow us on Instagram, our Instagram is at Murder in America. We post photos from all the cases right after the episodes go live. And yeah, from Courtney and I, next week's episode is going to be another long episode. And we are we're just so thankful to have everybody out there listening. So have a good rest of your week and we'll see you on the next one.