Latest news with #Alhadeff
Yahoo
18-04-2025
- Yahoo
FSU student survives shooting after losing sister in Parkland: 'Something has to change'
When a gunman opened fire near the student union at Florida State University on Thursday, killing two and wounding six, for student Robbie Alhadeff, the tragedy on his Tallahassee campus brought him back to another school shooting. Alhadeff's sister, 14-year-old Alyssa, was one of the 17 people killed in the 2018 Parkland high school massacre in South Florida. Alhadeff told ABC News Live he was really close to Alyssa, who was a freshman on track to play college soccer when she was gunned down on Valentine's Day. On Thursday, Alhadeff said he was walking to his apartment when friends started to text him about the gunfire. "I ran right back into my apartment because I was scared about the whole situation," he said. MORE: FSU shooting latest: Police search for motive in campus attack that killed 2, injured 6 Alhadeff said he took off at least two weeks of school after his sister was killed. In the wake of Thursday's shooting, he said his friends are "terrified" to return to class. "A lot of the people I'm friends with are from Parkland and a lot them go to FSU," he said. "This is the second time it's happened -- and no one I know wants to go back to school." MORE: FSU student who saw gunman fire first few shots recounts harrowing shooting "You could end up being killed just going to learn," he added. "I thought this would never happen again," Alhadeff said, "but it continuously keeps happening -- and something has to change." Manuel Oliver, whose 17-year-old son, Joaquin, was killed in Parkland, told ABC News Live, "I don't understand how anyone could be surprised" by another school shooting "if we haven't done anything to stop it." "We will continue to fight -- these kinds of events empower us to do more, different things, because whatever we've been trying is not enough," said Oliver, who has become an advocate for gun control. "You don't want to be me ... so you better get involved," he said. "You better choose better leaders and ask and demand the safety of your kids." Fred Guttenberg, whose 14-year-old daughter, Jaime, was killed in Parkland, said some of Jaime's former classmates were at the FSU student union when the gunfire broke out. "As a father, all I ever wanted after the Parkland shooting was to help our children be safe," Guttenberg, who has become a gun reform supporter, wrote on social media. "Sadly, because of the many people who refuse to do the right things about reducing gun violence, I am not surprised by what happened today." MORE: What to know about Phoenix Ikner: Alleged FSU gunman and stepson of sheriff's deputy The suspect in Thursday's shooting, 20-year-old FSU student Phoenix Ikner, was shot by officers and is expected to survive, authorities said. A motive is not known. The six injured victims are all expected to survive, hospital officials said. Police have not identified the two people killed but said they were not students. FSU has canceled classes and sporting events through the weekend. A vigil is set for Friday at 5 p.m. FSU student survives shooting after losing sister in Parkland: 'Something has to change' originally appeared on
Yahoo
18-04-2025
- Yahoo
‘We owe our children better.' Parkland survivors traumatized again by FSU shooting
The shooting that left two people dead at Florida State University and several others wounded Thursday tragically threads to the survivors and loved ones of the victims of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas shooting seven years ago. Some of the students who were at the school during the Feb. 14, 2018, mass shooting now attend Florida State. And family members of the Parkland victims now have children at the Tallahassee university. 'When I first got the FSU Alert via text message, my heart dropped. It's a feeling I know all too well, panic, fear, disbelief. No parent should ever have to experience this once, let alone twice,' said Lori Alhadeff. The Broward County School Board member's daughter Alyssa was among the 17 people murdered by a former student at Marjory Stoneman Douglas. READ MORE: Two dead, suspect in custody after sheriff's deputy's son opens fire at FSU Alhadeff funneled her grieving into activism, founding Make Our Schools Safe, a nonprofit with the goal of curbing gun violence at schools. Now, her son Robbie is an underclassman at FSU, and news of the violence at the college rushed in familiar dread to Alhadeff and her family. 'My immediate thoughts were: Is my son safe? Is this really happening again? It's every parent's worst nightmare, and for me, it was a horrifying déjà vu,' Alhadeff said. Alhadeff was able to get in touch with her son, who she said is 'physically safe, but emotionally shaken, as are so many students and parents right now.' 'Even when there's no injury, the trauma of hearing shots fired or being on lockdown can leave lasting scars and trauma,' she added. Police said Thursday's shooting was carried out by a student who opened fire at Florida State University's main campus with a handgun owned by his mother, a Leon County Sheriff's deputy. The suspect, Phoenix Ikner, shot eight people before he was shot by police and taken into custody, according to Tallahassee's police chief. Cameron Kasky is a Parkland survivor and, as a result, a founding member of Never Again MSD, a gun-violence prevention group, as well as an organizer of the March 2018 March for Our Lives student protests calling for gun law reforms. Asked by the Herald how he felt when hearing about what happened at FSU Thursday: 'Unsurprised.' And, he's pessimistic anything will change. 'This is what happens in Florida and all over our country. America is a very violent place, and people are not safe in schools,' Kasky said. 'When I see these shootings happen, I do not wonder how it could've happened, I reflect upon how inevitable it is.' Kasky's classmate, David Hogg, now vice chair of the Democratic National Committee, has also been an outspoken gun control advocate since surviving Parkland, and was among the more visible faces in the March for Our Lives movement. He told CBS News Thursday that the FSU shooting highlights the continued need for stronger laws, and he warned of the efforts among some Republicans in the Florida Legislature to roll back of reforms that were achieved in the wake of Parkland. 'There are a lot of students from Parkland at FSU, and what really bothers me is, in Florida, we worked in a bipartisan manner to pass reforms after Parkland,' he told CBS's Major Garrett. 'We passed a red flag law that has been used over 19,000 times to disarm people who were a risk to themselves and others.' Hogg also said that the fact that many of his former classmates are reliving the horror of another mass shooting is a reason not to become complacent as the memory of what happened at FSU fades from the headlines. 'To go through something like this once, this is something that's not supposed to happen at all,' Hogg said. 'We act like these are natural disasters in this country. It's not. This doesn't happen in other countries.' Fred Guttenberg's 14-year-old daughter Jaime was also killed at Marjory Stoneman Douglas. His son was also a student at the school and had to run away from the shooting to the shelter of a nearby restaurant. Since then, Guttenberg has become an outspoken advocate for tougher gun laws, including those that would make it more difficult for young people to access firearms. He noted that the gunman targeted the freshman building at Marjory Stoneman Douglass, the 1200 building, and many of those first-year high schoolers are now months away from graduation at Florida State. 'Dozens of students who had to run through the carnage of the student union today at FSU today had to run through the carnage of the 1200 building at Marjory Stoneman Douglass. This is their second shooting. It's not normal,' Guttenberg said. One Stoneman Douglas alum, Josh Gallagher, said on X that he was in the FSU law library when he heard 'active shooter' over an alarm. 'After living through the MSD shooting in 2018, I never thought it would hit close to home again,' Gallagher wrote. ' No matter your politics, we need to meet — and something has to change. Prayers to the victims and families.' Alhadeff has a message for Florida lawmakers as this year's Legislative session nears its end: 'Enough is enough.' 'Thoughts and prayers are not a policy. We need real action, immediately. Every moment lawmakers delay, lives are on the line,' she said. And, it's not just access to guns that is a problem, Alhadeff said. Policy makers also have to look at fortifying schools, colleges and universities, and pass laws that make it easier to identify people capable of causing widespread harm and death before they act, she said. 'Fund school safety at all levels. There needs to be a continuation of the Behavioral Threat Assessment process to include colleges and Universities. And fully fund mental health support,' Alhadeff said. 'Ensure every school has life-saving technology like panic buttons.' 'Stop the politics and start protecting our kids. We cannot become numb to this. We owe our children better.'
Miami Herald
18-04-2025
- Miami Herald
‘We owe our children better.' Parkland survivors traumatized again by FSU shooting
The shooting that left two people dead at Florida State University and several others wounded Thursday tragically threads to the survivors and loved ones of the victims of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas shooting seven years ago. Some of the students who were at the school during the Feb. 14, 2018, mass shooting now attend Florida State. And family members of the Parkland victims now have children at the Tallahassee university. 'When I first got the FSU Alert via text message, my heart dropped. It's a feeling I know all too well, panic, fear, disbelief. No parent should ever have to experience this once, let alone twice,' said Lori Alhadeff. The Broward County School Board member's daughter Alyssa was among the 17 people murdered by a former student at Marjory Stoneman Douglas. READ MORE: Two dead, suspect in custody after sheriff's deputy's son opens fire at FSU Alhadeff funneled her grieving into activism, founding Make Our Schools Safe, a nonprofit with the goal of curbing gun violence at schools. Now, her son Robbie is an underclassman at FSU, and news of the violence at the college rushed in familiar dread to Alhadeff and her family. 'My immediate thoughts were: Is my son safe? Is this really happening again? It's every parent's worst nightmare, and for me, it was a horrifying déjà vu,' Alhadeff said. Alhadeff was able to get in touch with her son, who she said is 'physically safe, but emotionally shaken, as are so many students and parents right now.' 'Even when there's no injury, the trauma of hearing shots fired or being on lockdown can leave lasting scars and trauma,' she added. Police said Thursday's shooting was carried out by a student who opened fire at Florida State University's main campus with a handgun owned by his mother, a Leon County Sheriff's deputy. The suspect, Phoenix Ikner, shot eight people before he was shot by police and taken into custody, according to Tallahassee's police chief. Cameron Kasky is a Parkland survivor and, as a result, a founding member of Never Again MSD, a gun-violence prevention group, as well as an organizer of the March 2018 March for Our Lives student protests calling for gun law reforms. Asked by the Herald how he felt when hearing about what happened at FSU Thursday: 'Unsurprised.' And, he's pessimistic anything will change. 'This is what happens in Florida and all over our country. America is a very violent place, and people are not safe in schools,' Kasky said. 'When I see these shootings happen, I do not wonder how it could've happened, I reflect upon how inevitable it is.' Kasky's classmate, David Hogg, now vice chair of the Democratic National Committee, has also been an outspoken gun control advocate since surviving Parkland, and was among the more visible faces in the March for Our Lives movement. He told CBS News Thursday that the FSU shooting highlights the continued need for stronger laws, and he warned of the efforts among some Republicans in the Florida Legislature to roll back of reforms that were achieved in the wake of Parkland. 'There are a lot of students from Parkland at FSU, and what really bothers me is, in Florida, we worked in a bipartisan manner to pass reforms after Parkland,' he told CBS's Major Garrett. 'We passed a red flag law that has been used over 19,000 times to disarm people who were a risk to themselves and others.' Hogg also said that the fact that many of his former classmates are reliving the horror of another mass shooting is a reason not to become complacent as the memory of what happened at FSU fades from the headlines. 'To go through something like this once, this is something that's not supposed to happen at all,' Hogg said. 'We act like these are natural disasters in this country. It's not. This doesn't happen in other countries.' Fred Guttenberg's 14-year-old daughter Jaime was also killed at Marjory Stoneman Douglas. His son was also a student at the school and had to run away from the shooting to the shelter of a nearby restaurant. Since then, Guttenberg has become an outspoken advocate for tougher gun laws, including those that would make it more difficult for young people to access firearms. He noted that Cruz targeted the freshman building at Marjory Stoneman Douglass, the 1200 building, and many of those first-year high schoolers are now months away from graduation at Florida State. 'Dozens of students who had to run through the carnage of the student union today at FSU today had to run through the carnage of the 1200 building at Marjory Stoneman Douglass. This is their second shooting. It's not normal,' Guttenberg said. One Stoneman Douglas alum, Josh Gallagher, said on X that he was in the FSU law library when he heard 'active shooter' over an alarm. 'After living through the MSD shooting in 2018, I never thought it would hit close to home again,' Gallagher wrote. ' No matter your politics, we need to meet — and something has to change. Prayers to the victims and families.' Alhadeff has a message for Florida lawmakers as this year's Legislative session nears its end: 'Enough is enough.' 'Thoughts and prayers are not a policy. We need real action, immediately. Every moment lawmakers delay, lives are on the line,' she said. And, it's not just access to guns that is a problem, Alhadeff said. Policy makers also have to look at fortifying schools, colleges and universities, and pass laws that make it easier to identify people capable of causing widespread harm and death before they act, she said. 'Fund school safety at all levels. There needs to be a continuation of the Behavioral Threat Assessment process to include colleges and Universities. And fully fund mental health support,' Alhadeff said. 'Ensure every school has life-saving technology like panic buttons.' 'Stop the politics and start protecting our kids. We cannot become numb to this. We owe our children better.'
Yahoo
06-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Mother of school shooting victim testifies in support of school safety bill
Mar. 5—OLYMPIA — Seven years after a gunman killed 17 people in a Florida high school, the mother of one of the victims testified in support of a bill in the Washington Legislature that would encourage schools to install panic alert systems to hasten emergency response times. If passed, the bill would require schools to develop emergency response plans that use technology to bring quicker help to campus, including panic buttons, live video or audio feeds that can be accessed by law enforcement, remote access to doors, or live two-way communication. The bill, sponsored by Sen. Nikki Torres, R-Pasco, has received broad bipartisan support so far this session. The legislation unanimously passed the state Senate earlier last month, and on Wednesday, received a hearing in the House Education Committee. Among those who testified in support of the legislation was Lori Alhadeff, whose daughter, Alyssa, was killed in the 2018 shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, where 17 students and teachers were killed and an additional 17 people injured in an incident, Alhadeff said, that "destroyed" her community. "The wounds affect us so deeply; it's so difficult," Alhadeff said. "So if we can put these emergency response systems in our schools, it will not only save lives, it will prevent future harm to communities that have to go through these school shootings, that unfortunately, we have every day." Following the shooting, Alhadeff founded the nonprofit Make Our Schools Safe, which encourages schools to install security features for emergencies. "No mother, no father, no family should ever have to feel the helplessness, the gut-wrenching pain of knowing that their child needed saving and that time ran out," Alhadeff said. "The principle of Alyssa's law is simple: time equals life. And when a threatening emergency does happen, whether it's an active shooter or a medical crisis or other danger, seconds matter." During her testimony Tuesday, Alhadeff described her daughter as a "bright, fierce, and passionate young girl who dreamed of becoming a lawyer, a leader." The day of the shooting, Alhadeff said she sent her daughter to school like it was "any other day." "I never imagined it would be the last time I would see her alive," Alhadeff said. In recent years, more than a half-dozen states around the country have passed versions of Alyssa's law, with legislation currently active in an additional 16 states. "Alyssa's law ensures that our schools have the tools to get help immediately by using emergency response systems that connect directly to law enforcement," Alhadeff said. "It empowers teachers and safeguards students and speeds up response times. Had Alyssa's law been in place on that tragic day ... lives could have been saved. I believe that with every fiber in my being." According to Torres, her office contacted each of Washington's 295 school districts to inquire about their safety protocol, with responses from 195. While each school district told Torres' office that their facilities had exterior doors that locked, 42 districts lacked key card access. Of those that responded, 107 told the Senator's office that their campus' had either panic or lockdown buttons, though some were either outdated or only partially installed. "There is definitely a need, and I'm hoping that you will see the importance of this bill in keeping our students safe at school, because that's where we send them off," Torres said in her testimony Wednesday. "We're expecting them to be safe."
