Florida students who returned to school two weeks after a mass shooting say they were haunted by fresh memories, but heartened by an outpouring of…
Florida students who returned to school two weeks after a mass shooting say they were haunted by fresh memories, but heartened by an outpouring of support.
(AP Photo/Terry Renna). Students wait to cross the street after their first day back at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., Wednesday, Feb. 28,2018. The students were greeted Wednesday morning by police officers carrying military…
West Virginia’s teacher walkout isn’t over yet as classrooms in all of the state’s 55 counties are to remain closed as state Senate action is awaited on a proposed 5 percent pay hike.
(Craig Hudson/Charleston Gazette-Mail via AP). Jennyerin Steele Staats, a special education teacher from Jackson County holds her sign aloft outside of the capitol building after WVEA President Dale Lee outlined the terms for ending the walkout on the…
Motorists are warned to stay off Northern California mountain roads as a major winter storm gaining strength Thursday is expected to bring heavy snowfall and powerful winds.
(AP Photo/Jeff Chiu). A man walks his dog at Ocean Beach as the sun sets in San Francisco, Tuesday, Feb. 27,2018. Forecasters said the next weather system will arrive in Northern California on Wednesday, and reach the south by Thursday, bringing much…
Supporters of legalized sports gambling may have another hurdle to clear even if the Supreme Court rules in their favor this year.
(AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, File). FILE – In this Dec. 4,2017, file photo, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, left, and state Sen. Raymond Lesniak talk after a news conference at the Supreme Court where a case on sports betting is being heard in Washingt…
When a gunshot was fired from a classroom in the north Georgia mountains and police identified the gunman as a teacher, it immediately pierced the national debate over whether educators should be armed.
(Whitfield County Sheriff’s Office via AP). This undated photo provided by the Whitfield County Sheriff’s Office shows Jesse Randal Davidson. Social studies teacher Davidson barricaded himself inside a classroom at Dalton High School in Dalton, Ga., We…
Walmart says it is raising the age restriction for people to buy firearms and ammunition to 21 years old.
(Photo by Scott Dalton/Invision for DICK’S Sporting Goods/AP Images). In this Oct. 18,2016, photo, Chairman and CEO of DICK’S Sporting Goods Edward W. Stack poses for a photo as he visits a new store at the Baybrook Mall in the Houston. Stack is issui…
Chris McDaniel, tea party-backed state lawmaker who tried to unseat U. S. Sen. Thad Cochran of Mississippi in 2014, now says he will challenge the state’s other U. S. senator, Roger Wicker.
(AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis). State Sen. Chris McDaniel, R-Ellisville, announces his candidacy to the U. S. Senate, Wednesday, Feb. 28,2018 in Ellisville, Miss. McDaniel will challenge current Republican U. S. Sen. Roger Wicker.
A New York City nanny accused of stabbing two small children to death in the bathroom of their Manhattan apartment is heading to trial.
(Susan Watts/The Daily News via AP, File). FILE- In this March 8,2013 file photo, Yoselyn Ortega, center, charged with the stabbing deaths of two small children under her care, is escorted to her seat for her first court appearance in New York. Openin…
(Kyle Kashuv via AP). CORRECTS SPELLING OF LAST NAME FROM KUSHUV TO KASHUV – In this photo released by Kyle Kashuv, Frank Krar, a statistics teacher at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School displays his new tattoo in the campus, Wednesday, Feb. 28,201…
(Amy Beth Bennett /South Florida Sun-Sentinel via AP). Broward County School Board Superintendent Robert Runcie speaks to media following a news conference at the Marriot Heron Bay in Coral Springs on Wednesday, Feb. 28,2018. Students at Marjory Stone…
(Red Huber/Orlando Sentinel via AP). Annabel Claprood, a student at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School touches one of the roses at the Pulse night club, Wednesday, Feb. 28,2018 in Orlando, Fla. Parents and students of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High…
(Red Huber/Orlando Sentinel via AP). Parents and students of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School receive a welcome as they stop at the Pulse night club, Wednesday, Feb. 28,2018 in Orlando, Fla. Parents and students of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High…
(AP Photo/Terry Renna). Students wait to cross the street after their first day back at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., Wednesday, Feb. 28,2018. The students were greeted Wednesday morning by police officers carrying military…
PARKLAND, Fla. (AP) – Aria Siccone returned to school haunted by the image: A terrified boy was knocking on the door of her locked classroom as the shooting began at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, but no one would let him in, fearing the shooter would follow.
That boy was fatally shot, one of 14 students and three staff members gunned down two weeks ago. And as classes finally resumed, there were reminders and triggers everywhere on campus: „Even if someone knocks at the door, like that scared me a lot today,“ Siccone said.
Under heavy police guard, Siccone joined most of her nearly 3,300 fellow students who returned to the scene of the massacre, meeting first Wednesday with others who shared their terror in their fourth-period classes. Everyone was impacted, but some, like Siccone, were extremely close to the gunfire in the freshman building on campus, which remains cordoned off.
„The one thing that bothers me the most … is how I saw the boy in the door and we couldn’t let him in and that just hurts a lot,“ said Siccone, who is 15. If they had, „The shooter could have followed him in and hurt so many more people.“
The hundreds of police officers on hand for the school’s reopening brought comfort dogs, a donkey, and horses, one of which had „eagle pride“ painted on its side. A nearby woman held a sign offering „free kisses.“ After school dismissed, members of the Guardian Angels wearing their trademark red berets lined the streets at a crosswalk.
Kyle Kashuv, a junior, said he hugged every single teacher he saw.
„In the beginning, everyone was super serious, but then everyone cheered up and it started being the same vibes we had before the shooting,“ he said. Kashuv said he was amazed by the outpouring of support from the community, including the police presence, the animals and many well-wishers. There were letters from all over the world and „banners on every single wall,“ he said.
Meanwhile, President Donald Trump convened a bipartisan gathering of lawmakers Wednesday at the White House, where he called for quick and substantial changes to federal gun laws and criticized lawmakers for being too fearful of the National Rifle Association.
The corporate world took action: Dick’s Sporting Goods announced Wednesday that it would restrict the sale of firearms to those under 21 years old, and would immediately stop selling assault-style rifles. Its CEO took on the NRA by demanding tougher gun laws.
