Families of School Shooting Victims Just Stormed the Nraã¢â‚¬â„¢s National Headquarters

Parkland school shooting iv years later: Remembering the 17 victims

Seventeen students and staff were killed in the 2018 Stoneman Douglas massacre.

February xiv, 2022, 9:00 AM

27 min read

A 15-year-old Army Junior Reserve Officer Preparation Corps cadet who dreamed of attending Due west Bespeak but died helping classmates escape. A precocious 16-year-sometime daughter ready to caput to higher and "change the world." And a high schoolhouse football game coach who ran toward the sound of gunfire, trying to shield students.

They were amidst the 17 students and staff shot dead at Marjory Stoneman Douglas Loftier School on February. fourteen, 2018.

Four years after a schoolhouse shooting that shook the nation, here is a look dorsum at the lives lost in the Parkland, Florida, massacre.

Alyssa Alhadeff, 14

Freshman soccer thespian Alyssa Alhadeff "took every second of her life and did something with it," her mother, Lori Alhadeff, told ABC News. "She had the fire to fight."

Alyssa Alhadeff was on track to play soccer in college and had dreamed of one day beingness on the U.Southward. women'due south national team, her mother said.

"She aspired for that greatness," Lori Alhadeff said. "She was probably one of the smallest on the team only the feistiest."

Laurie Thomas, the girls' soccer coach, said Alyssa Alhadeff was the "voice of our team."

"She was a leader, not just past what she said, but likewise by the graphic symbol," Thomas said. "She led the squad on and off the field."

Months subsequently the shooting, Lori Alhadeff won a seat on the county'south school lath.

"I want to practice everything possible to make this school system a model that other districts will look and try to replicate," Alhadeff said when she announced her candidacy.

She said she doesn't want "whatsoever other parent to go through the pain and anguish I go through every day."

Martin Duque Anguiano, 14

Freshman Martin Duque Anguiano, the son of Mexican immigrants, was a proud member of the U.Due south. Ground forces Junior Reserve Officers' Preparation Corps, according to Miami ABC chapter WPLG.

He was awarded the U.S. Army'southward Medal of Heroism after his decease.

"He was a very funny kid, outgoing merely sometimes actually tranquillity," his older brother, Miguel Duque, wrote on a GoFundMe folio. "He was sugariness and caring and loved by everyone in his family. Most of all, he was my babe brother."

"Words can non describe my hurting," Miguel wrote on Instagram. "You'll exist missed buddy. I know y'all're in a better identify."

Scott Beigel, 35

Geography teacher and cross-country coach Scott Beigel died while saving others, according to students and colleagues.

Student Kelsey Friend told ABC News that Beigel unlocked a classroom door during the gunfire and ushered students inside.

"I had thought he was behind me ... but he wasn't," Friend said.

"When he opened the door, he had to re-lock information technology so we can stay rubber. And he didn't get the chance to," Friend said, noting that her teacher was lying on the floor.

"I'm so thankful he was in that location to help everybody," she said, calling him a "really amazing teacher."

Nicholas Dworet, 17

Nicholas Dworet died one month before his 18th birthday.

On the day he would have become an adult, Dworet'due south classmates marked his altogether at the March for Our Lives rally in Washington, D.C. Some Parkland survivors became activists, launching a national, youth-led movement demanding an end to gun violence.

"He was a happy beau full of joy and life," Dworet'due south family unit said in a statement.

"He was extremely passionate about pond," the family said. "Nicholas was thrilled to be going to the University of Indianapolis to join their swim team. He dreamed of making the Olympic swim team and going to the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo. He believed he could achieve annihilation every bit long as he tried his best."

Dworet wrote out his goals on a sheet of paper, which he hung on a wall by his bed, ESPN reported.

"Information technology's a broken dream," his begetter, Mitch Dworet, told ESPN. "This kid was a dream. He was the best of us."

Aaron Feis, 37

Dearest schoolhouse football coach Aaron Feis, also a Marjory Stoneman Douglas Loftier School graduate, died running toward the gunfire, trying to shield students, officials said.

"I coached with him. My two boys played for him," said Scott Israel, who was Broward County sheriff at the time of the shooting.

Israel called him "a phenomenal man" and "1 of the greatest people I knew."

"The kids in this customs loved him, adored him," Israel said. "He was just such a not bad private."

"The fact that he died saving lives, the guy's a hero," high schoolhouse student Ryan Mackman said. "He was always a giving guy, he was e'er there for people, he had a big heart. That showed all the way to the end."

Feis was survived by his wife and daughter, family unit friend Brandon Corona said at the funeral.

The football double-decker worked 2, sometimes three jobs, he added.

"He e'er wanted to be the best dad he could exist," Corona said. "He was the epitome of what a hardworking husband and father should be."

Describing him as loving, strong, kind and patient, Corona said Feis gave rides home to students who needed it and "he was a counselor to those who had no father effigy."

Jaime Guttenberg, fourteen

Jaime Guttenberg was a freshman who loved to dance.

Her father, Fred Guttenberg, was overcome with emotion as he spoke of her expiry the next day.

"My chore is to protect my children," Guttenberg said at a acuity, his vox cracking. "And I sent my kid to school."

"In the morning sometimes things go so crazy, she runs out backside and she's similar, 'I got to go, Dad, adieu.' And I don't e'er get to say, 'I love you,'" Guttenberg said. "I don't call up if I said that to Jaime yesterday morn."

"Jaime was such a special child. All of the kids hither are. What is unfathomable is Jaime took a bullet and is dead," he added, his voice trembling. "Don't tell me at that place is no such thing equally gun violence."

To the parents at the vigil, he said: "Dearest your kids, concur your kids, kiss your kids. And don't ever, ever miss the chance to tell them how much you dearest them."

Fred Guttenberg has since become a national advocate for gun safety.

Chris Hixon, 49

Chris Hixon, the school's athletic director and caput wrestling jitney, was described as a role model and loving father. He died running toward the shooting, The Associated Press reported.

A Broward County athletic director of the year, Hixon was also a U.S. Navy reservist who had been deployed to Iraq, co-ordinate to WPLG. When his wife, Debbie Hixon, heard virtually the shooting, she said she knew he'd endeavor to save his students' lives.

"If yous needed anything -- a cup of saccharide in the middle of the night, he would bring it to you," Coral Springs High School athletic director Dan Jacob told ABC News. "Chris has a son with Down syndrome. He put the needs of anybody else before his own."

"Coach Hixon, for me, was a father figure," said wrestler Karlos Valentin, the Sun Watch reported.

"He was such a sweet guy," wrestler Ray Corniel said, according to the newspaper. "He would bring u.s.a. food for all our tournaments and take care of united states of america similar we were his own children and just watch over us, permit us learn virtually life lessons."

Luke Hoyer, xv

On the day of the rampage, Luke Hoyer's mother, Gena Hoyer, dropped the freshman off at schoolhouse.

"I love you, Lukey Carry," she told him, according to The Miami Herald.

"I love you besides, Mom," he responded.

Luke Hoyer, the youngest of iii siblings, spent a lot of time with his stay-at-abode mom, his aunt, Joan Cox, told People Mag.

"It was just the 2 of them all of the time," she said. "He was momma's boy and he loved his family so much. They were very shut."

"His smile was contagious, and so was his express joy," said his cousin, Grant Cox, according to CNN.

According to The Miami Herald, Luke Hoyer's family unit said they planned to spend time to come Valentine's Days doing what Luke loved: playing basketball and eating chicken nuggets.

Cara Loughran, 14

Freshman Cara Loughran "was a beautiful soul and always had a smile on her face," said the Drake School of Irish Trip the light fantastic toe in Southward Florida, where Loughran was a fellow member.

Later on the shooting, performers at Irish dance schools around the country wore purple ribbons -- one of Loughran's favorite colors -- in her honor, reported The Miami Herald.

Loughran, survived by her parents and her older brother, "was an excellent educatee" who loved her eight-year-erstwhile nieces, said her aunt, Lindsay Fontana.

"We are absolutely gutted," Fontana wrote on Facebook.

"I never got to say adieu to her," Loughran's friend, Mackenzie Mirsky, told WPLG. "I tin can't close my optics without thinking of my friend."

Gina Montalto, 14

Gina Montalto "was a smart, loving, caring, and strong daughter who brightened whatever room she entered," her mother, Jennifer Montalto, wrote on Facebook.

She was a Girl Sentry, a church volunteer, a soccer player and Color Baby-sit member who "earned top-notch grades," The Miami Herald reported.

"She loved to melt with her Male parent and her Grandmother, especially during the holiday season," her parents wrote on a GoFundMe page. "She was an avid reader and loved Harry Potter books, Hunger Games and Wonder Woman. She loved manner and enjoyed shopping, spa days with Mom and NY Jets games with Dad."

"She was best buddies with her little brother and she loved her whole family especially all her cousins," her parents wrote. "Gina will be missed not but by her family, but by everyone whose life she touched. Gina always took great pride in her education. High grades and schoolhouse involvement were a huge part of Gina's life. She always looked for ways to help others."

Joaquin Oliver, 17

The night before Joaquin Oliver was killed at school, his male parent, Manuel Oliver, took his son to buy Valentine'south Day flowers for his girlfriend. The teen took actress time getting dressed for school the next morning and proudly held her flowers and card in the car when his father drove him to school.

"I said, 'Love you.' And he gave me a kiss, 'I love you too.' And I told him, just brand sure you telephone call me to see how did it go with the flowers," Manuel Oliver told ABC News' "Nightline" months after the shooting. "And and then he never called me."

The teen was cached in NBA player Dwyane Wade's jersey. The Olivers later started a nonprofit organization called Change the Ref, a platform inspired past their son in function to educate and empower youth in the movement to end gun violence.

Manuel Oliver said the nonprofit'southward name came from a conversation he had with his son a few months before he died. Joaquin was frustrated past a serial of bad calls a referee had fabricated in a basketball game game, which inspired the father and son to call the recreational league and ask to have the ref switched out.

Afterward his son's expiry, Manuel Oliver said politicians didn't want to discuss gun control, which he described equally the victims' parents' principal issue.

"So Change the Ref is looking for the correct ref to make the right calls, that he has to be impartial, he cannot accept any connection or any kind of personal interest with any i of the teams," he said.

Alaina Petty, fourteen

Alaina Petty was "a vibrant and determined immature adult female" who "loved to serve," her family unit said in a statement, according to the South Florida Sun-Lookout man.

Petty participated in the loftier school Junior Reserve Officers' Preparation Corps programme and volunteered for a programme with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the family unit said, co-ordinate to the newspaper.

She was awarded the U.S. Regular army's Medal of Heroism afterwards her decease.

Niggling helped rebuild areas of Florida after the country was hit by Hurricane Irma in September 2017. Her family unit said, "Her selfless service brought peace and joy to those that had lost everything during the storm."

Meadow Pollack, 18

Meadow Pollack "was a cute girl, inside and out," her cousin, Jake Maisner, said, according to The Sun Watch.

A senior, Pollack was the youngest of 10 grandchildren and "the babe of the family," Maisner said, according to the Spotter. "Anybody wanted to protect her."

Pollack had been accepted to Lynn University in Boca Raton, co-ordinate to WPLG.

"Meadow was a lovely young adult female, who was total of energy," said university spokeswoman Jamie D'Aria, according to WPLG. "Nosotros were very much looking forrard to having her join our customs in the fall."

Before long after the massacre, Meadow's father, Andrew Pollack, said at a listening session with then-President Donald Trump that "We should accept fixed it!" later on ane school shooting.

"She's in Fort Lauderdale King David Cemetery," Andrew Pollack said of his daughter. "That is where I go to see my kid now."

Helena Ramsay, 17

Helena Ramsay was "kind-hearted and thoughtful" and "brilliant and witty," relative Curtis Page Jr. wrote on Facebook.

"She was securely loved and loved others fifty-fifty more and so. Though she was some what reserved, she had a relentless motivation towards her bookish studies, and her soft warm demeanor brought the best out in all who knew her," he wrote.

Ramsay, a lover of cats and music, moved with her family to Florida from England when she was 2 years one-time, according to The Miami Herald.

"She was a actually expert person through and through," Katherine Dadd, a friend since preschool, told the newspaper. "One of the kindest people I've ever met."

Helena's best friend, Samantha Grady, was grazed by a bullet during the massacre.

The ii spent much of their school days together, and Samantha told ABC News' "Nightline" that "going throughout my twenty-four hours without that, it's something that I have to go used to."

Alex Schachter, xiv

Alex Schachter was just 4 years old when his female parent died, his father, Max Schachter, said in his eulogy, which was published in The Washington Post.

Max Schachter remarried, and his two sons instantly gained a loving mother and two adoring sisters, he said.

"I moved my family to Parkland considering information technology was an idyllic little community," Max Schachter wrote. "I never thought this would happen to me. I never thought it would happen here."

Alex Schachter was a talented trombone player in the school marching band.

"The improvement I witnessed from him was admirable and inspiring," Alexander Kaminsky, the school's manager of bands, told the Dominicus Lookout man.

Max Schachter told ABC News last year how difficult it was to sentry Alex's friends graduate high school without him. He attended to collect his son's posthumous diploma.

"Information technology'south sad watching all of these kids go off and go to college and practice everything that I hoped that Alex would do," he said.

Alex Schachter was buried in the same cemetery as his female parent.

Carmen Schentrup, 16

Carmen Schentrup, a defended, accomplished and directly-A student "was going to change the world," her parents said in a statement on Facebook.

The precocious teenager was a National Merit Finalist, though she never knew information technology, as the award came the twenty-four hour period later on she was killed, her parents said.

Accustomed to the University of Florida honors plan, she "was exuberant to brainstorm her college experience," her parents said, so she could "become a medical scientist and discover a cure for horrible diseases, like ALS."

The teen "devoured books" and loved art and music, the family said. She played piano, violin and guitar and also sang in the church building choir.

Schentrup was "mature beyond her years," her parents said, however "still a kid at heart."

"We loved that she never outgrew our hugs and would hug the states before she went to bed," they wrote.

"Carmen was a dreamer," her parents said.

They said their daughter dreamed of visiting Germany, and so she taught herself the language.

"We miss seeing her brand her dreams come true," they said.

Peter Wang, xv

Peter Wang was an Army Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps cadet with "a lifetime goal to attend" the U.Due south. Military Academy, known every bit Westward Point, the university said.

He was wearing his JROTC compatible when he was killed at school while trying to help classmates.

Wang "was pointing the door open for other people to escape, and then he was struck by the bullets," friend Aiden Ortiz told WPLG.

"I want people to know he died a hero," Ortiz said. "He died saving many people."

West Point officials called Wang a "brave young man" and posthumously offered him admission "for his heroic deportment."

Wang and 2 other slain cadets were awarded the U.Southward. Army's Medal of Heroism.

Wang was buried in his compatible and his family unit was offered a keepsake medal.

Editor's note: This story originally was published in 2018 and has since been updated.

ABC News' Meredith Longo contributed to this report.