An excruciating process has begun in Parkland.
By request, relatives of the 17 people killed at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in 2018 are being escorted into the building on campus in which the massacre occurred. It’s called the 1200 building, and it’s due to be demolished soon, now that it’s not needed anymore as evidence in the trials of the shooter and of the former school resource officer.
They had to brace themselves for what they were about to see.
“You see the glass on the floor, you see the bullet holes, you see the blood, you see the doors where he shot through,” said Linda Beigel, who lost her son, teacher Scott Beigel, in the tragedy.
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Family members of the 14 students and three faculty members murdered that day were accompanied by victims’ advocates from the state attorney’s office and former Broward County state attorney Mike Satz, who prosecuted the case against the shooter.
“Entering the building where my daughter was shot was among the top five hardest things I ever had to do, superseded of course by seeing her cold body,” said Tony Montalto, who lost his daughter, Gina, who was a freshman.
He felt compelled to go, to see exactly where Gina was killed.
PARKLAND SCHOOL SHOOTING
“It’s just another step in the process, I’ll never close out Gina, she’ll always be my firstborn, my only daughter, my beloved daughter,” Montalto said when asked if this experience provided any closure.
Linda Beigel came to connect again with her son, to stand in his classroom.
“Try to say goodbye but I can tell you, I can’t say goodbye, I just can’t say goodbye, it’s been five years and 151 days, it’s been 1,969 days and I still can’t say goodbye," Beigel said through tears. “It was very important for me to go in, I needed to see where my son was when he was murdered, needed to see where he stood when he tried to close the door that saved 31 of his students.”
Scott Beigel was shot at close range in the hallway, as he was ushering students inside his classroom to safety.
“I took his laptop, I took his lesson plan, his last lesson plan that he had there, I took his sunglasses that he left there,” Beigel said.
Being inside reinforced their belief that the former school resource officer, Scot Peterson, could’ve saved lives. Peterson was recently acquitted of criminal charges.
“He never moved, never went to render aid, so he may not be a criminal, but his actions were certainly cowardly,” Montalto said.
“That Scot Peterson can say I got my life back, and then could say in front of the media, I wouldn’t do anything different, is horrible,” Beigel added.
Two other family members of the victims toured the building Wednesday but did not speak to the news media.
Final impressions of those who did? Their trip inside was necessary but not comforting.
“There’s no closure for me, I can’t speak for anyone else, there’s no closure, but this is something that I had to do,” Beigel said.
“I’m not sure that this is where Gina took her last breath,” Montalto said. “She did make it to the hospital, but I know that I love her very much and I always will, and we must all work together to prevent these things from happening again.”
That’s exactly what Montalto has been doing for the past five years. He co-founded the group, Stand With Parkland, which advocates for school safety and gun safety legislation.
The process continues Thursday, with more victims touring the site. Once the building is demolished, the victims say they want a memorial put in its place.
