Final farewells
As political debates intensify, funerals begin in Florida.
Mourners said goodbye Monday in Florida to a 15-year-old video game fan who loved Lebron James and Chicken McNuggets and a 14-year-old Junior ROTC member who spent hours volunteering as a community struggled to come to grips with last week’s deadly shooting rampage.
Funerals for Luke Hoyer and Alaina Petty came one day after two other students and a beloved teacher at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School were laid to rest. Athletic director Chris Hixon will be among those buried Wednesday; assistant football coach Aaron Feis’ funeral is Thursday.
Luke’s cousin, Grant Cox, plays baseball for Clemson University. Cox paid tribute to Luke and all the victims in an emotional Facebook post, pleading for people to “choose love” and declaring hate is never the answer.
“Tears will never show you how much I loved Luke,” Cox wrote. “He had a whole life ahead of him and now I live through him. I love you so much buddy!”
Alaina’s parents issued a statement saying it was impossible to sum up what their daughter meant to her family and friends.
“Alaina was a vibrant and determined young woman, loved by all who knew her,” her parents said.
While the community mourned, accused shooter Nikolas Cruz and his lawyers were in court Monday asking a judge to keep documents in the case sealed. Defense lawyers said last week that Cruz, 19, would be willing to plead guilty to murder charges to avoid the death penalty and spare the community the pain of a trial.
Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., told CBS Miami that while he has problems with the death penalty, he believes Cruz should be executed.
“In this particular case it would be hard to argue against the death penalty,” said Rubio, who has drawn the ire of some Stoneman Douglas students since
The New York Times reported that the senator had collected more than $3 million in donations from the National Rifle Association.
“We should all agree after #ParklandShooting that need better background check process,” Rubio also tweeted. And the White House said President Trump supports improving the federal background check process.
Cruz legally obtained at least 10 rifles, a law enforcement source briefed on the investigation told CNN.
On Tuesday, 100 students planned to take the 450-mile bus ride from Parkland to the state Capitol in Tallahassee to talk about guns and school safety with lawmakers. Tops on the students’ list: a ban on military-style assault weapons like the AR-15 type used in the shooting.
GOP state Sen. Bill Galvano says he will introduce a package of measures that would raise the legal age for possessing an assault rifle to 21, add a wait- ing period for purchases and expand background checks, among other changes.
Gov. Rick Scott called on the FBI to release “all details surrounding the bureau’s failure to take action after receiving information on Jan. 5, 2018, regarding Cruz’s gun ownership, desire to kill people, erratic behavior and disturbing social media posts.” Last week, Scott called for FBI Director Christopher Wray’s resignation.
Also Monday, school officials worked on a plan to reopen Marjory Stoneman Douglas High for its 3,000 students. The district said the school would remain closed at least through Wednesday and that the goal was to have staff return to campus by the end of the week.
“Tears will never show you how much I loved Luke. He had a whole life ahead of him and now I live through him.” Grant Cox Facebook tribute to his cousin, Luke Hoyer