Parkland families walk through untouched halls, classrooms for first time since tragedy

PARKLAND, Fla. (FLV) – Five years after the Parkland school shooting, prosecutors led some of the family members of the 17 victims through the mostly untouched rooms and halls of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.

For a long period of time, the 1200 building was blocked off from the rest of the school so it could be used for evidence while the shooter, Nikolas Cruz, was on trial.

Now that Cruz has been sentenced to life in prison, families are finally able to witness the environment as was left untouched from Valentine’s Day 2018.

The first private tour led four families through the building on Wednesday.

Linda Beigel Schulman’s son, Scott Beigel, was a 35-year-old geography teacher who died while helping students get to safety.

“I need to see where my son was murdered,” Beigel said. “I needed to see where he tried to close the door that saved 31 of his students. I needed to be where my son was when he took his last breath.”

Tony Montalto’s 14-year-old daughter, Gina, was one of the students who was killed by the shooter.

“My first born. My only daughter. My beloved,” he emotionally expressed.

For Montalto, walking into the building where his daughter was killed was “one of the hardest things he had ever done,” second only to “seeing her cold body”.

Max Schachter’s son, Alex, was another student that was killed. Schachter announced that he would also be going into the building in the upcoming days.

I’ve decided to go into the building tomorrow where my sweetest little boy Alex was murdered during the Parkland school shooting. I want to sit in the chair in Alex‘s English class where he was shot and took his last breath. 1/2 https://t.co/h2ZgTWevog

— Max Schachter (@maxschachter) July 5, 2023

“I want to sit in the chair in Alex‘s English class where he was shot and took his last breath,” Schachter said.

“I know it will be [heartbreaking] but part of Alex is still in that building. It’s another chance for me to connect with him and tell him how much I love and miss him,” Schachter explained.

The Broward County School Board plans to demolish the building in the future and may replace it with a memorial of those who lost their lives.

In October 2022, Gov. Ron DeSantis said he is “disappointed” in the jury’s recommendation to sentence Cruz to life in prison.

“I just don’t think anything else is appropriate except the capital sentence in this case and so I was very disappointed to see that,” said DeSantis.

“The jurors came back, apparently, it was 11 to 1 – with 1 holdout – refusing to authorize the ultimate punishment and that means that this killer’s going to end up getting a same sentence of people who’ve committed bad acts – but acts that did not rise to this level,” DeSantis said.

In Florida, the death sentence requires a unanimous vote on at least one count. At least one juror reportedly believed “mitigating” factors, like the shooter’s mental state, outweighed “aggravating” factors, like the cruelty of the shooting.

In April, DeSantis signed a bill that would reduce the number of jurors required to recommend the death penalty.

The governor was joined by parents of the victims in the Parkland mass shooting for the bill signing.

The law reduced the number of jurors needed to administer the death penalty from unanimous to now eight out of twelve.

“I’m proud to sign legislation that will prevent families from having to endure what the Parkland families have and ensure proper justice will be served in the state of Florida,” DeSantis said.