‘You can’t teach dead children,’ slams Parkland shooting victim’s dad as demolition begins on building where 17 killed
THE demolition of the building where one of America’s deadliest school shootings took place has begun.
The area of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida where 17 innocent souls were mercilessly gunned down by a former pupil on Valentine’s Day in 2018 will be razed to the ground over the next few weeks.
Yet for the grieving parents who lost loved ones at the hands of deranged gunman Nikolas Cruz, there will never be closure.
As Max Schacter, whose 14-year-old son Alex lost his life that day, saw the building where his life was shattered begin to crumble, the desperation to ensure no other families have to endure this kind of hell in the future shone through.
Max has worked tirelessly to change gun reforms in Florida and beyond.
He is the founder and executive director of Safe Schools for Alex, whose mission is “to provide the most current school safety best practices and resources to students, parents, school districts, and law enforcement so that all children can learn in a safe environment.”
He told The U.S. Sun about how politicians from other states have come to South Florida to learn about the mistakes made – and how to avoid similar ones moving forward.
TRAGIC REMINDER
“Today is a very sad day,” he said. “It’s a reminder I don’t have my little boy here anymore. This can’t happen again, you have to prioritize safety before education because you can’t teach dead children.”
The building has been frozen in time since that fateful day, a crime scene maintained to assist prosecutors and jurors involved in sick Cruz’s 2022 trial.
Cruz pleaded guilty to 17 counts of murder and 17 counts of attempted murder for the shooting, which ended with the bloody deaths of 14 students and three staff members. There were also 17 injured.
The 24-year-old was hammered with a life term for each of the 34 counts read by the judge, but the jury recommended life in prison with no parole, rather than the death penalty.
Linda Beigel Schulman, whose son Scott, a teacher, died in the building which has served as a daily reminder of the horrific, needless attack by Cruz, told The U.S. Sun at the start of 2023 about wanting to see his classroom one last time.
HORRIFIC MEMORIES
Blood stains were on the floors, and books were still open with visible bullet marks on the wall. Valentine’s Day cards remained unopened.
“It’s exactly the way it was,” she revealed. “It’s air-conditioned. Nothing has been touched.”
Max, in his role as a prominent advocate for school safety, has taken governors and government officials on emotionally charged walkthroughs of the classrooms where his son and 16 others were killed.
He wanted to give people and idea of what actually transpired – and how to prevent it happening again.
“It’s excruciatingly painful to see Alex’s blood all over the chair, and to see how he died,” he said.
He says following a recent six-hour visit from Utah officials, one of the state representatives took 20 pages of notes before confirming a new $200 million safety program.
Max wishes he could have taken more people through the halls where an all too familair nightmare played out.
He points out, however, that at least having the opportunity to walk through a school shooting six years after it happened is a rare, yet beneficial occurrence for those tasked with keeping future generations safe at school.
“Children in Utah are safer now because of seeing what happened in Parkland,” Max said.
SEARCHING FOR CLOSURE
Lori Alhadeff, whose 14-year-old daughter Alyssa was among those murdered, said seeing the building ripped down was “part of the healing process.”
She talked about the “pain” of students having to walk past the scene of such a horrific incident, yet like Max, is fighting for closure.
“When the crane hit the building it ignited our pain even further,” she admitted.
“I just keep thinking of my beautiful daughter and the others who were murdered.”
Parkland's innocent victims
Alyssa Miriam Alhadeff (14)
Martin Duque Anguiano (14)
Nicholas Paul Dworet (17)
Aaron Louis Feis (37)
Christopher Brent Hixon (49)
Luke Thomas Hoyer (15)
Gina Rose Montalto (14)
Alaina Joann Petty (14)
Helena Freja Ramsay (17)
Alexander Logan Schachter (14)
Carmen Marie Schentrup (16)
Scott J. Beigel (35)
Jaime Taylor Guttenberg (14)
Cara Marie Loughran (14)
Joaquin Oliver (17)
Meadow Jade Pollack (18)
Peter Wang (15)
Since the heartbreaking day that changed Max’s life forever, he has been advocating for policy change at the highest levels of the United States government.
He has worked alongside members of Congress, federal agencies, and White House officials in the desperate push to ensure school safety across the United States.
“I brought almost 500 school and law enforcement and federal officials through that building,” he said.
“We did multiple congressional delegations. We brought the Secretary of Education, Miguel Cardona, the Vice President of the United States, and the Director of the FBI so that they could bear witness to what happened.”
MISTAKES MADE
A legal battle with the Broward Sheriff’s Office over their response six years ago has been bitter and, at times, ugly.
Scot Peterson, the on-campus sheriff’s deputy was accused of failing to confront Cruz, telling investigators he couldn’t locate the gunman because of echoes in the building.
“He never went in for 48 minutes,” Max said. “He could have saved lives.”
Peterson was found not guilty, but the Broward Sheriff’s Office is being sued by the families affected.
Shooter Cruz, who displayed a long history of strange and violent behavior and was sentenced to life in prison without parole, was visited by cops, according to Max, “43 times and they didn’t do anything.”
“If he had been arrested, I think Alex and the 16 others would still be here,” he lamented.
“I’m looking at this building now and it reminds me of all the failures that happened that day,” Max continued.
“And the Broward Sheriff’s Office is at the top of that list. They are the only ones that have refused to accept any responsibility. Fighting with the families, even up to this point. It’s been six years, and it’s not right.”
LESSONS LEARNED
Many other schools that have suffered similar heartbreaking tragedies have ripped down the buildings where the atrocities took place.
Sandy Hook Elementary was knocked down following the shooting in 2012, as was the library at Columbine High in the wake of the 1999 disaster.
Robb Elementary in Uvalde is set to be demolished after its own nightmare in 2022.
“To me, whether the building is here or not, I will always remember this space. There’s no closure for me,” concluded Max.
“My mission is to make sure that everybody in the United States understands what happened in Parkland, understands the failures, so that it never happens again.”
