‘These students are here to stay’
Mass-shooting survivors see march as a pivot point
As his daughter lay in a funeral home, Greg Medek said his goodbyes. He told her of the dreams and hopes he had for her future and how all of them were ripped away when a gunman walked into a movie theater in Aurora, Colo., in 2012 and killed a dozen people. He is reminded of that pain every time he sees another school, nightclub, concert or workplace shattered by gunfire. The pain turns to anger as he watches the same response by lawmakers, knowing gun laws will never change. He lost hope long ago that anything would stanch the blood flow in an America that stole his daughter, Micayla.
But for the first time, that hopelessness has been replaced with optimism. And for the first time, he’s getting political and plans to attend a local March for Our Lives rally Saturday in Denver.
Other survivors of mass shootings and families of victims say they plan to march, too, in the nationwide protests against gun violence organized by students in Parkland, Fla., who lost 17 people on Feb. 14.
Medek and others say something is different this time, something that has disrupted the normal cycle after tragedy strikes: The students are fierce and not backing down until gun laws
change.
“I watched these kids and the walkouts and had to turn it off because I was going to cry. Someone is finally doing it and making other people care,” Medek says. “These students are here to stay, and I’m so thankful to them.”
Virginia Tech
Colin Goddard called 911 and hid as the bullets tore through his classroom door at Virginia Tech.
He was hit four times. Seventeen people were in that classroom. He was one of seven in that room who survived.
Goddard, now 32, made it his mission to push for gun control after the 2007 attack. He joined the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence and Everytown for Gun Safety organizations and lobbied for changes.
After the attack, President George W. Bush signed the NICS Improvement Amendments Act, which helped tighten reporting on people with mental illness. The legislation is considered one of the strongest recent federal mandates on gun sales.
The shootings continued.
It’s been tiring to watch the madness for the 11 years since 32 people were killed at his school, Goddard says. But seeing the students in Parkland has him feeling re-energized.
“It’s just incredible to watch these young people stand up. As someone who has been on this route for some time, you can’t help but get inspired.”
San Bernardino
Marion Bowman protested when she was younger.
She pushed for women’s rights and against racial segregation.
“Young people are the impetus for change. Nothing gets done without them, and these young people in Parkland aren’t letting things go,” says Bowman, 73. “I have hope that something big is happening.”
In December 2015, her life was changed forever. She walked into her Pennsylvania home and saw a flash on the news about a possible shooting at a county government building in San Bernardino, Calif.
She realized that’s where her son, Harry, who was known as “Hal,” worked.
It wasn’t until she made a call to the coroner that she got the dreaded confirmation of what she already suspected: He was one of the 14 killed.
She plans to attend a march near her home in Pennsylvania to support the students in Parkland and to honor her son. “I just hope these kids keep pushing and pushing for all of us,” she says.
Orlando
Hispanic music was bumping inside Pulse nightclub even though it was about 2 a.m. — nearing closing time.
Brandon Wolf, 29, went to the bathroom as his friends stayed on the dance floor. That’s when the gunfire started. It sounded as if it were part of the music. Dozens piled into the bathroom. They looked as if they’d seen death.
His friends Christopher “Drew” Leinonen and Juan Guerrero were two of the 49 people killed in the attack.
Since that day in June 2016, Wolf has been a fierce advocate for gun safety.
He says lawmakers knew the public, the media and the country would move on. He hasn’t, though and he says it’s clear students in Parkland and across the country aren’t going to move on, either.
“They’re the leaders we’ve been waiting for,” he says.
Las Vegas
Maisie Devine thought she was missing the fireworks.
That was when her co-worker pulled her to the ground at the Route 91 Harvest Festival in Las Vegas in October.
The gunfire ricocheted off equipment they were hiding behind. She watched others get hit and fall.
Devine, 29, escaped uninjured in the shooting rampage. Fifty-eight people were killed in the attack and hundreds were injured. She met with lawmakers and worked to outlaw bump stocks.
“It helped me heal. The people who died don’t have a voice anymore, so I really think it’s part of every survivor’s responsibility to speak up,” Devine says. “But these kids in Parkland have a level of courage I’ve never seen before.”