On February 14, 2018, gunman Nikolas Cruz killed seventeen people at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. Fourteen students and three administrators were killed in the shooting. Seventeen people were also injured non-fatally in the shooting. Cruz began the attack at 2:21 p.m. and left the premises at 2:28 p.m. He carried out the attack without intervention with police officers, despite the fact that there was an armed deputy outside within two minutes of the start of the shooting.

The seventeen victims killed in the attack include: Joaquin Oliver, Aaron Feis, Martin Duque, Meadow Pollack, Alyssa Alhadeef, Jaime Guttenberg, Alaina Petty, Cara Loughran, Nicholas Dworet, Gina Montalto, Scott Beigel, Chris Hixon, Luke Hoyer, Helana Ramsay, Alex Schater, Peter Wang, and Carmen Schentrup. Many of these victims sacrificed their lives to help their peers. Aaron Feis, a football coach and security guard at the school, shielded students with his body to protect them from bullets. Peter Wang was fatally shot while holding the door open to allow his peers to escape the building.

The law enforcement response was complicated by several factors. For one, the emergency response calls from cell phones within the school were routed to the Coral Springs Fire Department. On the other hand, calls from parents were directed to the Broward Sheriff’s Office. Another problem was that the police radio system became overloaded, forcing officers to use hand signals to communicate. Two sheriff’s deputies did arrive at the scene during the shooting, but did not enter the building to intervene.

Other problems prevented internal mitigation of the attack. For instance, teachers were unable to lock their doors from within the classroom. They were forced to go outside the room with a key to lock the door. Another issue was that the gun smoke set off fire alarms in the building, causing confusion. Teachers and students were unsure whether the event was a fire, which required evacuation, or a shooting, which required seeking cover indoors.

Nikolas Cruz is currently being charged with seventeen counts of attempted murder and seventeen counts of first-degree, premeditated murder. Cruz could be sentenced to death if he is convicted. So far, he has entered a not-guilty plea in March. Cruz is also facing allegations for attacking a jail guard. Cruz was given an order to stop dragging his shoes on the floor by a guard. Upon hearing this, he became aggressive and repeatedly punched the guard in the head, and grabbed his stun gun. The stun gun was discharged in the altercation, after which the guard regained control of his weapon and punched Cruz in the face. Cruz later withdrew to a seat and was apprehended into custody.

This shooting sparked political discussion for gun control and mental health. Student led organizations as well as politicians called for gun control after the shooting. The “Never Again” movement sought to help push for these types of changes. Another topic of interest was mental health. Nikolaus Cruz showed many signs of being troubled but no serious action was ever taken to find him help. Mainly Democrats focused on the gun laws while Republicans focused on mental health. 

Nikolas was adopted at a young age and never knew his birth mother. His birth mother was a drug addict and was often violent. His adoptive mother was known as being thoughtful and disciplined. Cruz took after his birth mother. He often had violent outbursts. He had an unhealthy obsession with guns and would sometimes shoot and torture animals. Cruz even released a video in which he described how he would carry out a school shooting. These signs were not taken seriously enough to stop the shooting from occurring. His mother told the press that she indulged him in his violent video games because they would calm his mood. This also could have led to his eventual shooting. 

Cruz was able to purchase his guns legally. He instantly passed a background check and was not stopped due to his mental illness. This has been a big point made when discussing the issue of gun control. Three weeks after the shooting, Florida Governor Rick Scott signed into law the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Public Safety Act. This act raises the age in which people can buy guns and allows judges to bar someone from purchasing a gun if they display an act of violence. The bill also allows for the voluntary arming of school officials and a school “guardian” program in which an officer is assigned to a school facility. Advocates of this bill hope that it will make the loose gun laws in Florida more strict. Currently, buying a gun does not require a permit, private gun sales do not require a background check, gun ownership does not require the owner to register their gun. With the new restrictions, there is hope to stop the occurrence of mass shootings in the United States of America. 

