Florida community mourns 17 lives lost too soon

Close to 1,000 people attended a vigil in Parkland, Fla., Thursday night for the victims of Wednesday’s school shooting. Many in attendance sobbed as the names were read of the 17 students and teachers who died when 19-year-old Nikolas Cruz stormed Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School near the end of the school day. Those killed included assistant football coach Aaron Feis, 37, who died while shielding students from bullets, and geography teacher Scott Beigel, 35, who was gunned down after unlocking and opening his classroom door to let in fleeing students. Chris Hixon, the school’s 49-year-old athletic director and security specialist, also was killed. Families and friends of the 14 deceased students have shared with media their heartfelt memories of the students’ lives and the horrifying details of their deaths. Some of the most heartbreaking stories are of parents who searched hospitals for their children after the attack, only to learn later they had died. The students who were killed represented a broad cross section of the student body: athletes, scholars, young freshmen, and college-bound seniors. Their names and ages are: Alyssa Alhadeff, 14; Martin Duque, 14; Nicholas Dworet, 17; Jaime Guttenberg, 14; Luke Hoyer, 15; Cara Loughran, 14; Gina Montalto, 14; Joaquin Oliver, 17; Alaina Petty, 14; Meadow Pollack, 18; Helena Ramsay, 17; Alex Schachter, 14; Carmen Schentrup, 16; and Peter Wang, 15.