Victoria Ortiz remembers the mass shooting like it was yesterday, but it was actually six years ago today at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida.
“I remember the day very vividly,” she said.
On Feb. 14, 2018, 17 people were killed and 17 more were injured when an active shooter opened fire on students and staff at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.
Ortiz is now a freshman at USC, but six years ago today, she was a middle school student in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, about a 45-minute drive away from the shooting.
Arielle Tylim, a USC alum who graduated in 2019, also lived locally during the shooting. Her cousins attended Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. The day of the shooting, her cousin was making up a missed test in a classroom that wasn’t attached to the main school.
“[My cousin] happened to be out of the building when the shooter came in. He killed this beautiful young girl who sat in front of her, who sat in front of her in class, and the girl behind her,” Tylim said.
When her cousin heard the gunshots while walking back to class, she and other students hopped the school fence and ran to a nearby Walmart.
The amount of mass shootings in the United States has only increased since the Parkland shooting, with 329 in 2018 and over 600 in 2021 and 2022, according to Everytown Research, America’s largest gun violence prevention organization.
As of July 1, 2023, new Florida legislation authorized residents over 18 to carry a concealed weapon or firearm without a concealed weapons license. On the same date of the Parkland shooting, there was a shooting in Kansas City, Missouri at a rally celebrating the Chiefs Super Bowl victory. At least one person was killed and 15 have been injured, authorities said.
Just hours later on the same day, gunshots were heard at the Gardens Mall in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida. — just an hour drive from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. The mall was on lockdown, and police were investigating the situation as of Wednesday afternoon.
“I feel like any time I’m on a campus or in a movie theater or a mall, I am way more aware of my surroundings,” Tylim said. “It’s just so horrific that our government hasn’t been able to recognize the epidemic that is mass shootings in the United States.”
Carly Gottlieb is a USC student who also had cousins at Marjory Stoneman Douglas on Feb. 14, 2018. Originally from Miami, she is now a junior studying law, history and culture. Her cousin was home sick on the day of the shooting.
“I was like, ‘f—, Julia goes to that school,’” said Gottlieb before finding out that her cousin happened to be home that day.
Gottlieb also attended the trial of the shooter, but after two days, she “couldn’t handle it anymore.”
She witnessed all of the impacted family members sobbing and in distress, as well as the details about how the people were shot and what the forensic examiner had to present.
“It was the worst thing I’ve ever watched,” she said. “There’s no reason that society needs for people to have such easy access to AR-15s, especially without a serious psychological examination.”
Ortiz also said she was disappointed by Florida’s current gun laws, mentioning Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis as part of the problem.
“They’re implementing even more laws that are the opposite of gun safety,” she said.
Ortiz, Tylim and Gottlieb are having a very different Valentine’s Day than most, alongside the other hundreds of victims and families affected by gun violence and the many currently advocating for legislation to help reduce mass shootings.