Florida school where 17 people died in 2018 shooting to be demolished

A classroom building at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, where a shooting in 2018 left 17 people dead, began to be demolished last week, bringing back memories for the families and friends of the victims.

The building had been preserved as part of the evidence for the trial that was carried out against the shooter, identified as Nikolas Cruz, who was ultimately sentenced to life in prison without parole.

The decision to demolish had been announced last year. Through a statement, the Broward County Public Schools said they made this decision in consultation with health and safety experts, and out of concern for the well-being of the students and staff on campus.

For this symbolic demolition act, the relatives were invited to witness the first blows and, if they wished, to hammer a piece of a wall themselves.

"Obviously today is a very, very sad day. It's a reminder that I don't have my little one here," Max Schachter, whose son, Alex, died in the shooting, told Local 10.

The former student Bryan Lequerique, present at this demolition event, also recalled harrowing moments from that day. "The fire alarms, the screams, the police entering with their hands up... very traumatic," he stated.

The demolition is scheduled to take place from Monday to Friday until 4:30 pm, and the plan is to complete it before the students return to classes in August, after the summer vacation period.

Now that the demolition is in the execution phase, Max Schachter recalled how many times he had passed by that building. According to what he told Local 10, it was more than 10 times.

On the other hand, Lori Alhadeff, father of one of the murdered students and currently a member of Broward School Board, mentioned that he continues to think about his daughter Alyssa, and "the pain I suffer every day."

Once the walls have been knocked down, it is expected to create a space to honor the victims of that tragic event, even though the Broward County School Board has not decided what the building will be replaced with.

Some ideas come from the hand of teachers from the institution who suggested a practice field for the Junior ROTC band, to which several murdered students belonged, connected by a garden path to a nearby monument that was erected a few years ago.

According to Local 10, Broward County is not the only one that has demolished a school building following a mass shooting. In Connecticut, Sandy Hook Elementary School was torn down and replaced after the 2012 shooting. In Texas, authorities closed Robb Elementary School in Uvalde after the 2022 shooting and plan to demolish it. In Colorado, the library at Columbine High School was demolished after the 1999 shooting.