He was given a swimming scholarship to the University of Indianapolis.
He also played for the school water polo team.
Nick aspired to be in the 2020 olympics.
He was described as being very charismatic and a very likeable guy.
Aaron Feis:
Aaron was a football coach at the school.
Aaron was shot and killed, shielding students from bullets.
He was also reported to have been a security guard.
He was loved by students at the school.
Chris Hixon:
Chris was the school’s athletics director.
He was described as the kind of person who would do anything for anyone.
He had a son with special needs who followed him everywhere.
Luke Hoyer:
Luke was 15 years old.
He loved playing basketball.
He is described as being very laid back, never causing any trouble.
His family is devastated, saying that “it doesn’t feel real”.
He was very happy-go-lucky. Never getting upset.
Cara Loughran:
Cara was 14 years old.
She was a great student.
She loved the beach.
Her family says that her death is “too horrible to be processed”.
Gina Montalto:
Gina was 14 years old.
She was a member of her school’s marching band.
Her mother described her as being smart, caring, and brightening any room she entered.
Joaquin Oliver:
Joaquin was 17 years old.
He was born in Venezuela, officially becoming an American citizen on January 17th.
He was described as being extroverted and always trying to make new friends.
Alex Schachter:
Alex was 14 years old.
He was a member of his school’s marching band.
He was described as being a great kid, full of love and life.
Carmen Schentrup:
Carmen was 16 years old.
She was a national merit scholar semifinalist.
A family member described her as being the smartest 16 year old they had ever met.
Alaina Petty:
Alaina was 14 years old.
She was part of her school’s JROTC program.
She devoted countless hours to volunteering.
Alaina was described as vibrant, determined, and loved by all.
Meadow Pollack:
Meadow was 18 years old.
She planned to attend Lynn University next year.
Meadow is described as being beautiful, inside and out.
I teared up as I went through this…
May they rest in peace
Honestly, take the time to read about these individuals. Remember them. Remember the opportunities that were ripped away from them. Remember the smiles and light they eluded but the terror they endured in their last moments of life. Remember every single thing you read about them and make it a point to fight for a world where this doesn’t become the new normal.
Jaime Guttenburg was 14 years old. Just wanted to make the proper correction.
It makes me so fucking angry that our government is so money greedy and heartless that making the world safer and saving goddamn children doesn’t mean as much as the money they get from the NRA.
Fuck our American government.
Remembering souls as beautiful as this is so important. My heart breaks for the pain so many families in America are feeling right now
Florida School Shooting Survivor: 17 students and school faculty, our teachers and best friends were murdered in front of us. We saw our friends being shot in the head right next to us…
Conservatives: We need to come together and pray for these families.
Florida School Shooting Survivor: We need to pass legislation for stricter gun control, comprehensive background checks and–
Conservatives:Oh shut up! You’re all actors and communists! Go back to doing your Tide pod challenges, you stupid kids! You’re not taking our guns away!
Words can’t describe how horrible this shooting was not only for the people involved but also for the country as a whole. This is the 18thschool shooting that we’ve had so far this year. Legislators have the power to pass stricter gun control laws but they refuse to because they are in the pockets of the NRA. The NRA doesn’t care if your family members, teachers and best friends are gunned down in front of you because they’re collecting money from gun sales. Conservatives have been beyond hypocritical in their response to this and past mass shootings. They keep saying “pray for the victims,” “let the victims grieve,” “don’t try to politicize this.” Well, this time, the victims are asking for more than prayers; they’re asking for a response from the government. They’re demanding a response from the government to make sure that guns don’t fall into the hands of violent men like the former student who massacred their friends and faculty. And now that the survivors are demanding action from the government, conservatives are angered that the survivors aren’t echoing their sentiment on how we as a country should respond to tragedies like these. They think “how dare these people who have witnessed their closest friends dying in front of them by the hands of a gun demand stricter gun laws!” The amount of greed that it takes to disregard the lives stolen by a blood-thirsty gunman in favor of pocketing money from the NRA is inhuman and evil. The stronghold that the NRA has on conservatives and Republicans is so powerful that it has caused these so-called Christians to not only turn a blind eye toward the murders of these students and adults but has also caused them to profit from it. After all, the gunman attained his weapons legally after the FBI failed to follow up into their investigation on him.
Now some people will blame the shooting on mental health issues (specifically Trump). Oh, it’s not guns that are the problem, it’s these lunatics who keep getting their hands on guns. But that’s the thing, isn’t it? How in the hell did this 19 year old with clear mental issues pass the vetting process to attain a gun? Was there not a thorough background check into this guy? Had no one found out that he had been reported on YouTube for posting “im going to be a professional school shooter”(sic)? Had no one looked into his history of the police being called to check in on him because of his strange behavior? Even people who had spoken to him said that he had been making jokes about school shootings and engaging in anti-social behavior. If we had more comprehensive background checks, this man would not have been able to legally purchase any firearms. It is the system we have in place that allows anyone to have a gun, including mentally ill people that causes these murders to happen. It’s the fault of these conservative Republican legislators and weak Democrats who bend over for the right that these shootings keep occurring. We’ve been having multiple shootings taking place every week now and the majority of our country’s politicians are silent on proposing sensible solutions to this issue.
I hope that the survivors keep speaking out and rallying for stricter gun control laws because this has been going on for way too long. But unfortunately, it’s going to keep happening and these politicians are going to keep sitting around doing nothing about it and pocketing their NRA money. I’m just not very hopefully about this with this nation’s track record and all. We need to primary the fuck out of all the politicians who are taking money from the NRA, we need to get money out of politics so these politicians can’t take money from the NRA and per suggestion of one of the victims’ parents, schools need to ramp up security because if the government isn’t going to do anything about these shootings, schools should. Also, if you see anyone on the internet making fun of school shootings or claiming that they’re going to be the next school shooter or wishing death upon anyone, report them to the police/FBI and make sure that they stay on top of the case. Tell them that you’re looking out for your country because this school shooter, Nikolas Cruz like other trolls turned mass shooter take their threats seriously and you’re trying to prevent another mass shooting. A lot of these internet trolls, as of late, have gone on to become mass shooters. Sometimes, these people are serious about what they say. And we can’t let them slip through the cracks anymore.
