Deadliest School Shooting Since Sandy Hook

On February 14, Nikolas Jacob Cruz opened fire on the staff and students of his former school, Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. This event ended up being the deadliest school shooting since the Sandy Hook Elementary shooting in 2012, and the third deadliest in American history.

On Valentine’s Day morning, Cruz opted to not go to his adult GED classes and instead was dropped off, along with his AR-15 that would take the lives of 17 people mere moments later, by an Uber at his former high school.

According to a timeline provided by the Broward County Sheriff’s office, at approximately 2:21 pm, just 19 minutes before release, Cruz began to open fire indiscriminately at students and staff in the hallways going through all three floors.

By 2:29, Cruz finished his shooting and began his escape by blending in with the fleeing students. At 2:50, he then went to a Walmart and to the interior Subway and purchased a drink. The next and final place Cruz was known to be at before his eventual capture was at McDonalds where he ordered, sat, and ate before beginning to walk home and eventually getting stopped and captured at around 4:11 pm.

The fate of the shooter is as of now unclear with reports suggesting Cruz will take a guilty plea only if the the death penalty is taken off the table.

The aftermath of the shooting was like most, if not all, shooting aftermaths; politicians on the left blaming guns and the lack of gun control, while politicians on the right blame the countries severe lack of mental health care, yet make it more expensive.

While the big wigs at Washington decide what to blame, nothing actually gets changed and the country collectively moves on until the next shooting. The cycle repeats.

In the wake of the tragedy many of the survivors attempted to make a change happen by starting the “Never Again” advocacy group. The survivors advocated for restrictions on weapons like the AR-15 that was used to slay 17 of their classmates. Eventually, Florida lawmakers took action. Florida signed a bill that raised the minimum age required, created a waiting period, and banning bump stocks. A bold move since the republican nature of the state in the previous election.

While many questions surround the shooting perpetrated by Nikolas Cruz one thing does remain clear: of all the developed countries in the world, the United States is the only country where gun violence happens regularly, and until something is actually changed, it will remain the only one.