17 took bullets and lived to tell
List of survivors released as part of Cruz indictment
The killer fired his AR-15 at them on that terrible afternoon at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, and they survived.
One lived after her friend, who would be killed, urged her to use a book to block the shots. Another was shot as he used his body to hold the door closed against Cruz. Others were hit as they crouched in classrooms and Cruz fired shot after shot through locked doors.
A complete list of the wounded from the Parkland school shooting was released for the first time Wednesday, as part of the indictment of Nikolas Cruz for murder and attempted murder.
The indictment, handed up by a grand jury in Fort Lauderdale, charges Cruz with 17 counts of premeditated first-degree murder and 17 counts of at-
tempted first-degree murder in the Feb. 14 mass shooting.
Although authorities have previously said the number of wounded stood at 16, the indictment lists 17 victims of attempted murder and said all had been shot.
Injuries ranged from bullet grazes to multiple gunshot wounds, with some victims released from the hospital within hours and others remaining there for weeks.
Samantha Fuentes, 18, was shot multiple times in both legs and sustained shrapnel wounds to her legs and face. Daniela Menescal, 17, was shot in the back and leg after Cruz entered her classroom and opened fire, killing two students.
Alexander Dworet, 15, whose brother Nicholas was killed by Cruz, was grazed on the back of the head by a bullet.
Isabel Chequer, a junior, suffered two bullet wounds but was among the first released from the hospital.
“They were non-lifethreatening,” her father, Amin Chequer, told the South Florida Sun Sentinel on Wednesday. “She was home by 9 or 10 that night.”
Stacey Lynn Lippel, 50, a language arts teacher, was grazed in the arm by a bullet inside the 1200 building. Lippel, of Coral Springs, told ABC News that she was teaching a creative writing class when she heard a “barrage of bullets” in the hallway, followed by a fire alarm. Lippel unlocked her classroom door as students flooded in. Lippel says she caught a glimpse of the shooter, and immediately locked the door behind her.
Samantha Grady’s friend, Helena Ramsay, urged her to hold up a book to deflect the bullets as Cruz fired through the locked door of their classroom. Samantha, a junior, said that may have saved her life, allowing her to escape with superficial wounds. Her friend was killed.
Madeleine Wilford, a 17-year-old junior and player on Stoneman Douglas’ girls basketball team, was shot three times, the bullets piercing her chest, torso and right arm. After being listed in critical condition at Broward Health Medical Center in Fort Lauderdale, Wilford recovered, and doctors released her from the hospital Feb. 24.
President Donald Trump visited her in the hospital days after the shooting. A GoFundMe campaign titled “Support for Missy and Maddy,” created on behalf of Wilford and her mother, Missy, had reached its fundraising goal of $70,000 on Monday.
Anthony Borges, 15, is credited with saving the lives of 20 students, holding his ground in a doorway by using his body as a barricade.
He was shot five times. He was struck twice in his right leg, once in his left leg and twice in his torso, Anthony’s attorney, Alex Arreaza, said.
“By the grace of God, he’s not No. 18,” Arreaza said. “But it’s going to be a tough recovery. … It’s a miracle that we’re even talking about recovery.”
The soccer club FC Barcelona sent a signed team jersey to the student, who spent two months playing at Barcelona's youth academy near Fort Lauderdale in 2016. Borges and his parents told Broward County Administrator Bertha Henry that the family intends to sue Broward County Public Schools, Marjory Stoneman Douglas’ principal and its school resource officer.
Another wounded student who plans to sue is Kyle Laman, 15. He said Cruz looked him in the eye before he started shooting, hitting him in the ankle and foot as he dove to the floor.
The others wounded: Ashley Baez, Justin Colton, Marian Kabachenko, Kheshava Managapuram, Samantha Mayor, William Olson, Genesis Valentin and Benjamin Wikander.