On Wednesday February 14th, 2018 Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland Florida 14 students, 2 staffs, and 1 teacher were shot and led by an active shooter on campus who goes by the name Nikolas Cruz.

According to CNN the shooting lasted for 4 minutes and Cruz had a AK-47 rifle a month before the shooting. The Broward County deputies got at least 23 calls from 2008 to 2017 related to Cruz or his brother Zachary Cruz. Some of those calls were concerns about him “planning to shoot up the school,” and others were threats and acts of violence. The deputies didn’t take action. The calls were from people who were close to Cruz and were concerned by what he was posting on Instagram. He was posting pictures of himself and guns and also he was collecting knives and loads of guns.

School shootings can be fixed. Children being killed and wounded is very serious. Children will not be able to live their lives the way they want, who wants to be fearful for their child or their future?

USA Today stated that Nikolas Cruz was mentally ill and what was known was that he was diagnosed with depression, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) and autism. What was also mentioned was that he had a history of violence. Cruz could also be a danger to himself, as he attempted to kill himself by drinking gasoline and was cutting himself.

There are a many ways to stop school shooting like this one and here are some ways to prevent this from happening again.
1.Check your kids social media-F
Your kids could be posting threatening or harmful things. Make sure your kids aren’t getting bullied.
2. Be sure your kid is mentally and emotionally stable-
Parents, if your kid is going through depression or ADHD like Cruz did, get your kid professional help. Do not let them take it on their own because it could be worse than you believe.
3. Background checks-
Past experiences with depression, ADHD, any mental illness should be overlooked.

Our resources:

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation-now/2018/02/23/florida-school-shooting-sheriff-got-18-calls-cruzs-violence-threats-guns/366165002/

https://www.cnn.com/2018/02/23/us/florida-school-shooting/index.html