Education
Second Parkland Shooting Survivor Dies In ‘Apparent Suicide’
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A second Parkland shooting survivor died in what police are calling “an apparent suicide” Saturday.
He was a sophomore and attended Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Florida at the time of the shooting on Feb. 14, 2018, the Miami Herald reported Sunday. Police did not release the boy’s name and are not sure if the suicide was linked to the shooting.
The sophomore reportedly died from a gunshot wound.
The boy’s death comes as former Parkland student Sydney Aiello took her life reportedly due to survivor’s guilt on March 17, according to CBS 4 Miami.
She was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and died from a gunshot injury, the Herald reported.
Aiello’s friend Meadow Pollack was one of the 17 victims in the shooting.
Beautiful Sydney with such a bright future was taken from us way too soon. My friend’s sister and someone dear to Meadow.
Any help for the family to cover funeral expenses would be appreciated.
Please RT and donate! https://t.co/3eg2Su4Jbv
— Hunter Pollack (@PollackHunter) March 21, 2019
Students regularly go to trauma counselors and have become anxious when hearing fire alarms in the aftermath of the shooting, the Herald reported. The high school has also experienced a large number of absences.
Broward County Public Schools (BCPS) will be giving parents a set of six questions, known as the “Columbia Protocol,” Ryan Petty said, according to the Herald. Petty was the father of Alaina Petty, a 14-year-old freshman killed in the shooting.
“Parents cannot be afraid to ask their kids the tough questions,” Ryan Petty said, the Herald reported.
Questions include whether students have thought about or had plans of killing themselves. The questions help determine what kind of resources to provide to the students.
“During the Spring break, I encourage you to take time to speak with your children every day,” BCPS Superintendent Robert Runcie said, the Herald reported. “Dinners are a great time for family conversation. We need to remove the stigma from talking about suicide.”
Andrew Pollack, Meadow Pollack’s father, weighed in on students possibly feeling survivor’s guilt in a Sunday tweet.
“MSD student survivors should not have survivors guilt,” Andrew Pollack tweeted. “They are the victims. The survivors guilt should be rightly felt by the failed leadership of former sheriff Israel,@RobertwRuncie and @browardschools that allowed this tragedy and by the cowardly deputies that hid outside.”
MSD student survivors should not have survivors guilt. They are the victims
The survivors guilt should be rightly felt by the failed leadership of former sheriff Israel,@RobertwRuncie and @browardschools that allowed this tragedy and by the cowardly deputies that hid outside
— Andrew Pollack (@AndrewPollackFL) March 25, 2019
Suspected gunman Nikolas Cruz could face the death penalty if convicted. A trial is set for the beginning of 2020, according to The Associated Press.
BCPS and Coral Springs police did not immediately respond to The Daily Caller News Foundation’s requests for comment.
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