Anguish for 14 innocent young souls ‘full of light’
Dancer Jaime Guttenberg had a brilliant smile. Even now, her father still calls her “baby girl.”
Athlete Nicholas Dworet just won a University of Indianapolis swimming scholarship, writing online, “I can’t wait to spend the next 4 years here!” Parkland, They are among Fla., ef where the dead on in Wednesday, minutes before dismissal, a teen allegedly opened fire on former classmates and teachers with an AR-15, killing 17.
The first details are emerging of the 14 student lives that authorities say were ended that day by expelled former student Nikolas Cruz, 19, at Marjory Stoneman Douglas HS.
They were fresh-faced and full of promise.
“He was an insane swimmer,” junior Connor Dietrich, 17, told The Post of Dworet, who was captain of his swim team.
“It didn’t matter what you were doing. We were on completely different sports, but he was always cheering you on.” Dietrich said. “He was always there for you.” Dworet, 17, died in a first-floor classroom, one of four students shot there.
“Thankfully, I was hidden under my teacher’s desk,” 17-yearold Hannah Carbocci, a survivor who was in that classroom, said in a Facebook post.
“I had to walk through a hallway covered in shattered glass and blood of my fellow classmates, all while having to walk past dead bodies of people i knew.”
Guttenberg, 14, was “a little freshman,” said her lifelong pal, junior Olivia Prochilo.
“She was so nice, full of light,” Prochilo, 16, told The Post.
Guttenberg’s dad, Fred, said on Facebook, “My heart is broken.”
Many of the dead had barely reached their teens
Victim Martin Duque Anguiano, a freshman, was only 14.
“Words can not describe my pain,” his brother, Miguel, wrote on Instagram. “I know you’re in a better place.”
Gina Montalto, also 14, had served on the school’s winterguard team. She died hours after the shooting.
“She was the sweetest soul ever,” her color-guard instructor, Manuel Miranda, told the Miami Herald.
Alex Schachter, 14, a freshman, was a trombone player in the school marching band.
“A sweetheart of a kid,” his dad, Max, told The New York Times.
His older brother is also a student at the school but survived.
Alex “just wanted to do well and make his parents happy,” his father told the Times.
Cara Loughran, 14, was confirmed dead by a peer counselor at her church, the Herald said. “RIP Cara, and fly with the angels,” neighbor Danny Vogel wrote on Facebook. Victim Alaina Petty, 14, a member of the school’s Junior ROTC, had been a volunteer in the Mormon church’s efforts to help Florida’s victims of Hurricane Irma, according to LDS Living, a magazine for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. In a statement on the LDS Living site, the Petty family said, “We are grateful for the knowledge that Alaina is a part of our eternal family and that we will reunite with her.” Peter Wang, 15, a freshman, was also a JROTC member, relatives said. “He was the kid in school who would be friends with anyone,” a cousin, Lin Chen, 24, told the Times. Alyssa Alhadeff, also 15, had lived in Woodcliff Lake, NJ, from around 2010 to 2014. She was an “innocent soul,” cousin Ariella Del Quaglio said on Facebook.
Luke Hoyer, 15, died on the third floor of the school.
“Our Luke was a precious child, who just went to school yesterday not knowing what was to come,” his aunt Mary Stroud-Gibbs said on Facebook.
Victim Carmen Schentrup, 16, had just been named a 2017 National Merit Scholar semifinalist, the Herald noted.
“You were the smartest and most intelligent 16 year old I’ve ever met!” her cousin, Matt Brandow, said on Facebook.
Joaquin Oliver, 17, moved to the US at age 3 from his native Venezuela and had become an American citizen last year.
“He didn’t make it . . . I love you cuz,” his cousin Javier Lovera tweeted. “I’m at a loss of words.”
Helena Ramsay was 17 and described as “smart, kindhearted and thoughtful” on Facebook by family member Curtis Page, Jr.
Meadow Pollack, 18, a senior, had been accepted at Lynn University in Boca Raton, Fla.
Her Facebook page — which celebrated her short life’s milestones, including the gift of her first car — is now a memorial.