Douglas parents assemble at park

Neighborhood man saw area sealed off for family members.

Police cordon off Betti Stradling Park as students are bused over.

CORAL SPRINGS — Shawn Haq doesn’t have a child at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. That doesn’t mean he wasn’t shuddering at Wednesday’s shooting that killed 17 students there.

“It’s very scary, especially being so close to Douglas, and the area, and getting an alert from the school that it got put on Code Red,” Haq said at about 4:30 p.m. as he waited to pick his son up at Coral Springs Middle School, about 1.5 miles south of the Parkland high school.

His wait was slightly longer than usual. Coral Springs Middle remained on lockdown until just before 5 p.m. Wednesday.

Haq saw parents of Douglas High School students filling Betti Stradling Park, across Wiles Road from the middle school, as he waited for his son. Some Douglas students were bused there after the shootings for safe release to their families. Others were taken to the Marriott hotel near Heron Bay Golf Club for emotional reunions with their children.

The concern of the Douglas parents was apparent, Haq said.

“This whole place was pretty much locked down. They had this whole place blocked off for Douglas parents, and I was overhearing some of them talking that they couldn’t get a hold of the kids yet,” Haq said.

Haq said he had received text updates on the shootings, including a graphic photo taken by a Douglas student who is a friend of his daughter, a student at Coral Glades High School.

BRUCE R. BENNETT / THE PALM BEACH POST A police officer puts up yellow tape at Betti Stradling Park in Coral Springs on Wednesday for family members of students at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland. Students were bused to the park, which sits near Coral Springs Middle School, after the mass shooting at the high school.