As the day that many refer to as “Valentine’s day” approaches, so does the five-year anniversary of one the deadliest school shootings in U.S. history. On Feb. 14, 2018, a school shooting that traumatized 17 families, countless students and millions of people worldwide took place in the Miami suburb of Parkland Florida. It was a typical day at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland Florida but quickly changed to a day that Americans across the country would never forget. Nicholas Cruz, a former student at Marjory Stoneman Douglas, arrived at his school at 2:19 p.m., 20 minutes before the school’s dismissal. Cruz was dropped off by an Uber driver, while carrying a rifle case and his backpack. 

Cruz entered the building and walked to “building 12” which is a three story section of the High School. Building 12 had 30 classrooms; full of 900 students and 30 teachers. Cruz was holding an AR-15-style rifle, he walked down a hallway and released a fire alarm, then started immediately firing his weapon at students. A “Code Red” was not called because the staff did not know who had the authority to call the code. At 2:21 p.m. a staff member finally activated the code. Eleven people were killed on the first floor. Cruz entered the second floor and murdered two staff members in the stairwell, then he moved to the third floor where he murdered five students and a staff member, all while a school resource officer was outside the building armed. Cruz stopped shooting and dropped his rifle on the third floor. He then joined the crowd and fled the scene with students on foot. At 3:40 p.m. police had Cruz in their custody almost two miles away from the school. 

In total 14 students and three staff members lost their lives, another 17 people were injured but survived. The deadly school shooting lasted in total; six minutes. Cruz posted several threats that he would “shoot up the school” prior to the actual shooting. Many staff and students had behavioral concerns about Cruz spanning over that past year, he was expelled from the school at the time of the shooting. Cruz purchased the semi-automatic rifle that he used to kill 17 people at a gun store in February of 2017 when he was 18 and passed the required background check. On Nov. 2 2022, Cruz was sentenced to 34 life sentences, with no possibility for parole.

The Parkland school shooting left not only a nation speechless but an entire world. On May 24, 2022, an 18-year-old gunman walked into Robb Elementary school in Uvalde, Texas and killed 19 kids and two staff members. On April 17, 2007, 32 students were shot and killed on the Virginia Tech campus. In 2012 at Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown, Connecticut, 20 first graders and six staff members were shot and killed by a gunman. According to SandyHookPromise.org, Each day 12 children die of Gun Violence in America and another 32 are shot and injured. When will it stop? When will the day come that a mother does not have to worry if their child will get home from school safely or not? When will I as well as so many other students stop living in fear of school shootings? When will we as a country stop letting firearms be as accessible? When will it stop?