James Myers of OAN
Friday, June 14, 2024, 12:00 PM
Six years later, the building at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, where a gunman killed 17 people, is now being demolished.
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Demolition of the 1200 Building began Friday morning, with some family members of the victims shedding tears as excavators began digging into the top floor of the three-story building under clear skies.
The work is expected to take several weeks to complete, according to the Broward County Public Schools district, and will involve a complete demolition from top to bottom.
“This building was a symbol, a symbol of failure and I know a lot of people in the community are happy to see it go,” said Tony Montalto, who lost his 14-year-old daughter, Gina.
“For my part, I am concerned because we have yet to see any solid plans put forward for a replacement for this building. We need something that reflects the people who were taken from us and what they were like before the tragedy.”
The school district announced in May that demolition work would take place after the school year ends Monday in the summer of 2024. Demolition work was originally scheduled to begin Thursday but was delayed due to several days of torrential rains in South Florida.
The Valentine’s Day 2018 shooting tore apart 17 families, including 14 students and three staff members, and seriously injured 17 more. The gunman was sentenced to life in prison without parole.
“This is another step in our healing process,” said Lori Alhadeff, whose 14-year-old daughter, Alyssa, was killed at the school. CNN Friday.
“And it’s important that six years later this building is being demolished and our family is grieving the loss of our daughter, Alyssa. We are healing, but we are also trying to make a difference.”
Alhadeff founded the nonprofit Make Our Schools Safe to promote greater school safety. Six states have enacted Alyssa’s Law, which requires public elementary and middle schools to install silent panic alarms that can be used to secretly call police.
“We know that time equals life,” Alhadeff said, noting that deputies who toured the building were motivated to act after “seeing the blood on the ground, the glass on the floor, the devastation.”
Joan Wallace, a former special needs teacher at the school, had mixed emotions as she watched the building be demolished. She said she thought the tours were helpful, but understood the building’s presence brought painful memories for the victims’ families.
“I hope this brings some peace and security to the families,” said Wallace, who was helping students wait for their parents in the parking lot at the end of the school day when the shooting began.
Broward County isn’t the only county demolishing buildings after mass shootings.
In Connecticut, Sandy Hook Elementary School was demolished and a new building built after the 2012 mass shooting, and in Texas, officials closed Robb Elementary School in Uvalde after a mass shooting in 2022. Columbine High School in Colorado had its library demolished after a mass shooting in 1999.
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