Site of deadly Marjory Stoneman Douglas mass shooting to be demolished next summer

Julius Whigham II, Palm Beach Post
·1 min read
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PARKLAND — The Broward County high school building where 17 people were killed and 17 others were wounded in a February 2018 mass shooting is now slated for demolition next summer, officials announced this week.

Safety concerns will delay work on Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School’s 1200 building until after the 2023-24 school year, according to a statement that Broward County Public Schools issued Thursday.

The building, on the north side of its campus along the Sawgrass Expressway, has remained shuttered since the day of the shooting and has been preserved an active crime scene.

"We understand the urgency of this matter, but it is essential to prioritize safety above all else," the school district's statement said. Crews need time to clean and clear the building as well as demolish it, following state and federal landfill disposal regulations.

Nine members of Congress wait to enter Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, Friday, Aug. 4, 2023, in Parkland, Fla. The group will tour the blood-stained and bullet-pocked halls, shortly before ballistics technicians reenact the massacre that left 14 students and three staff members dead in 2018. The reenactment is part of a lawsuit filed by the victims' families against former Deputy Scot Peterson and the Broward Sheriff's Office. (AP Photo/Marta Lavandier)

The gunman, a 19-year-old former Stoneman Douglas student, went to the campus with an AR-15-style rifle on Feb. 14, 2018, and fatally shot 14 students and three school faculty members.

He pleaded guilty to murder in 2021 and last year was sentenced to life without parole after a jury voted against giving him the death penalty, a decision that drew criticism from relatives of the victims and some state politicians.

A judge in July approved a reenactment of the shooting as part of a civil lawsuit against former Broward County school resource officer Scot Peterson, who did not enter the building or engage the gunman at any point during the shooting.

A jury in June acquitted Peterson of all criminal charges stemming from his failure to rush into the building.

Julius Whigham II is a criminal justice and public safety reporter for The Palm Beach Post. You can reach him at jwhigham@pbpost.com and follow him on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, at @JuliusWhigham. Help support our work: Subscribe today.

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Broward schools to demolish site of Parkland mass shooting in summer 2024