New grief for Parkland students, parents
Attack prompts frustration, anger
What began as a bittersweet day for many Marjory Stoneman Douglas seniors touched by their own tragedy veered into heartache with the news that it had happened again.
This time in Texas, more than 1,000 miles away. But still, it felt so close. On Friday, the last day of high school for many Parkland seniors, the deadliest school shooting since 17 of their classmates were slain Feb. 14 unfolded in Santa Fe, Texas. It had only been 93 days.
“I’m crying for my friend and the same thing is happening all over again,” said Tyra Hemans, a senior at Stoneman Douglas who was already emotional and tearful after signing Meadow Pollack’s memorial yearbook. Pollack, 18, died after being shot nine times.
Ten were killed and 10 were wounded at Santa Fe High School near Galveston on Friday when Dimitrios Pagourtzis, 17, who played on the school’s junior varsity football team, opened fire in a first-period art class.
“Prayers and hugs is all that you can take right
now,” was Hemans’ advice to those hurting in Santa Fe. “Because nothing will ever feel the same again.”
For the parents of the slain Stoneman Douglas students, the news out of Texas plunged them into frustration, grief and outrage. They came together Friday to jointly craft a statement of condolence and solidarity for those suffering in Texas. Eight parents of the fallen united Friday evening behind Tony Montalto, father of murdered 14-year-old Gina Montalto, at Parkland City Hall on Friday to deliver their message.
“We mourn and pray for those lost or injured and hope their community will rally to support them as ours has,” Tony Montalto read.
The statement also called for an American unification to bring about gun control and mandatory school safety measures, along with a plea for the media to refrain from using the Texas killer’s name. Doing so would prevent “him from gaining the notoriety many of his kind desire,” they wrote.
“Today’s been a little rough,” said April Schentrup, whose daughter Carmen was murdered seven days shy of her 17th birthday. “Every day is a struggle and sad, and now all we can do is reach out and offer to help in any way we can to the families in Santa Fe.”
For Fred Guttenberg, who has turned to fullthrottle activism to deal with the death of his 14-year-old daughter Jaime, the painful memory of having to plan a child’s funeral amid soulwrenching loss and shock resurfaced.
“I remember how I felt, and I said it, I felt broken. You don’t know where to turn, you don’t know where to go … [you have to] plan a child’s funeral. It’s a nightmare,” he said. “Every day is a reminder of loss, it doesn’t get easier and I can’t believe we’re going through this again. I want to go to Texas and put my hands around these people.”
The Parkland massacre spawned a “Never Again” vow, hashtag and movement to eliminate school shootings, reform gun laws and hold lawmakers accountable for their position on gun laws. Student survivors-turnedactivists embraced a mission to register young voters to drive a meaningful change. In that vein, thousands swarmed to Washington, D.C. six weeks after the Stoneman Douglas shooting for March For Our Lives — the most massive student protest since Vietnam.
One of the prominent students behind the #NeverAgain movement, Sarah Chadwick, a speaker at the D.C. march, tweeted: “I’m not going to say thoughts and prayers but instead policy and action.”
Senior Evan Tong, 18, left campus Friday with a feeling of futility and defeat competing with a graduate’s emotions of liberation, farewell and achievement.
“It’s just kind of a confliction of feelings,” he said. “It’s heartbreaking, honestly. We go to such lengths to advance gun control but nothing comes out of it.”
Senior Jordan Faber, 18, said that amid the frequency of deadly school shootings he was relieved to see his high school years come to an end.
“It’s like an era, a school-shooting era,” he said. “Sadly, it’s terrible to say, but at this point it’s just normal.” As for the outlook for change, “it’s not looking good,” he said.
Jeff Foster, the AP government teacher whose guidance has helped keep the #NeverAgain student activists on point, said the Texas news broke while his class was signing yearbooks and taking photos. The mood went from giddy to somber as they tuned into news reports, he said.
“It was like going back in a time capsule, watching what happened to us but in a different community,” Foster said. “It’s like reliving the nightmare again.”
Foster’s students immediately began tweeting reactions and expressions of support.
“We are reaching out to students and staff in Texas to offer any help,” Foster said. “We told them we know what you’re going through. I’m sure several of my #NeverAgain students will be going to Texas soon.”
Diego Pfeiffer, a senior active in the #NeverAgain movement, said a journey to Texas would surely be in the future. “Right now the plan is to grieve and to let them grieve.”
Daniela Menescal, 17, still has shrapnel in her thigh and lower back — those tiny fragments will forever remain embedded beneath her skin, her doctors say. She prefers not to talk about the Texas school shooting and is trying to avoid news that reminds her of her own brush with death.
Still, she shared a few words: “Just really sad to know somebody has to go through this again. I really think it’s really unfair,” she said. “I’m praying for the families and the other kids who were affected.”
News of the school shooting made Wendy Garrity’s stomach turn. She is the mother of Sawyer Garrity, a Stoneman Douglas student who dealt with her grief by cowriting the song “Shine,” which was performed at the Washington, D.C. march and beyond.
“It just brings you back,” Garrity said. “We know exactly what they’re feeling, what they’re going through and the anxiety and the trauma. This should not be … Our kids aren’t safe anywhere.”