Parkland: The Shooting That Created a Movement

Seventeen people were killed at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, on February 14, 2018. The shooter, Nikolas Cruz, 19, a former student who had been expelled the previous year, arrived by Uber at approximately 2:19 p.m., assembled an AR-15-style rifle in a stairwell, and opened fire on the school’s Building 1200 during the final minutes of the school day. He killed 14 students and 3 staff members in six minutes before leaving the building, dropping his rifle, mingling briefly with fleeing students, and stopping at a Subway restaurant before being arrested a mile from the school. The Parkland shooting was the deadliest American high school shooting on record. What happened in the weeks after it — students from the school organizing nationally, testifying before legislatures, and driving the largest youth political demonstration since the 1970s — was something new enough to examine separately from the event itself.

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Forty-Five Police Calls and One Ignored FBI Tip

Nikolas Cruz was one of the most extensively pre-flagged shooters in the history of American mass violence. The FBI received a tip on January 5, 2018 — 40 days before the shooting — from a person close to Cruz who called the agency’s tip line to report that Cruz owned guns, had posted violent content on Instagram, and had said he wanted to be a “professional school shooter.” The FBI’s own protocols required the tip to be forwarded to its Miami field office for investigation. It wasn’t. An FBI review later found that the agent who received the tip failed to follow established protocols.^1^

The Broward County Sheriff’s Office had received 45 calls related to Cruz or his household between 2008 and 2017, including calls documenting him cutting himself, threatening to shoot up a school, and possessing weapons. In November 2017, a family with whom Cruz was living called police after he pulled out a gun and began pointing it at people in the household. The responding deputy noted Cruz had mental health issues but made no arrest and did not initiate the process that could have led to a mental health hold. Cruz had legally purchased the Smith & Wesson M&P15 used in the attack on February 5, 2017, from a licensed dealer. He was 18 at the time, which was legal under federal law. He passed a background check.

Six Minutes in Building 1200

Cruz entered Building 1200, a three-story structure of classrooms, at 2:21 p.m. and moved upward through the floors, firing into classrooms and hallways. Among those killed: Joaquin Oliver, 17; Alyssa Alhadeff, 14; Luke Hoyer, 15; Carmen Schentrup, 16; Gina Montalto, 14; Helena Ramsay, 17; Alex Schachter, 14; Peter Wang, 15, who was wearing his Junior ROTC uniform and held a door open so other students could escape; and faculty members Scott Beigel, 35, a geography teacher shot unlocking his classroom door to let students in; and Chris Hixon, 49, the school’s athletic director. Assistant football coach Aaron Feis, 37, was shot shielding students with his body.^2^

Scot Peterson, a Broward County Sheriff’s deputy assigned to the school as a school resource officer, arrived outside the building during the shooting and remained outside for approximately 48 minutes. He was later charged with seven counts of felony neglect of a child and perjury, though a jury acquitted him in June 2023. His inaction became a flashpoint in the national debate about whether armed school officers provide meaningful protection.

How 38 Days Produced March for Our Lives

The survivors of Building 1200 included students who, in the weeks immediately following the shooting, chose to direct their grief outward. Emma González, 18, gave a speech at a Fort Lauderdale gun control rally on February 17 — three days after the shooting — that was watched millions of times online. David Hogg, 17, gave media interviews from inside the school during the shooting, recording himself on his phone as he hid in a closet. Cameron Kasky, 17, proposed organizing a national march while still on lockdown.

Within days, these students had connected with established gun control organizations including Everytown for Gun Safety and Moms Demand Action while being insistent that they were driving the effort. They named the organization March for Our Lives. The march in Washington D.C. on March 24, 2018 — 38 days after the shooting — drew an estimated 800,000 people, with sister marches in 800 cities worldwide and a global attendance of approximately 1.2 to 2 million, making it one of the largest youth-led demonstrations in American history.^3^

What the Law Changed — State by State

Florida passed the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Public Safety Act on March 9, 2018, just 23 days after the shooting. The law raised the minimum purchase age for all firearms from 18 to 21 in Florida, imposed a three-day waiting period on all gun purchases, prohibited bump stocks, established a “red flag” law allowing courts to temporarily remove firearms from people deemed a danger to themselves or others, and allowed for the creation of a “guardian” program to arm certain school staff. Republican Governor Rick Scott signed it over the objections of the National Rifle Association.

The federal response was more limited. President Trump signed an executive order banning bump stocks in March 2018, a restriction that went into effect in March 2019 and was later struck down by the Supreme Court in Garland v. Cargill in June 2024 on administrative law grounds. No federal gun legislation passed in the immediate aftermath. The broader movement did drive passage of red flag laws in 19 states and the District of Columbia by 2022, a meaningful expansion of a legal tool that had existed in only 5 states before Parkland.

What the Settlements Established

The Broward County School District settled with victims’ families for $25 million in 2023. The FBI settled a lawsuit filed by families of 14 victims for $127.5 million in November 2022, acknowledging the bureau’s failure to act on the January 5, 2018 tip — at the time, one of the largest payouts in FBI history related to a law enforcement failure.^4^

Cruz pleaded guilty to 17 counts of premeditated murder and 17 counts of attempted murder in October 2021. At the penalty phase of his trial in 2022, a jury voted 9-3 against a death sentence — a split verdict that, under Florida law, resulted in a mandatory sentence of life in prison without parole. Some victims’ families walked out of the courtroom when the sentence was announced. The school’s Building 1200 was demolished in 2020. Florida, in 2023, passed permitless carry, allowing most Floridians to carry concealed weapons without a license, without training, and without a background check beyond what’s required for purchase. Governor Ron DeSantis signed that bill on April 3, 2023.

For what the data shows about school shooting patterns across the full historical record, see School Shootings: What the Data Actually Shows.

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Sources:

1. FBI Inspection Division. Review of the FBI’s Handling of Information Related to the February 2018 Shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. 2018.
2. Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Public Safety Commission. Initial Report Submitted to the Governor, Speaker of the House of Representatives, and Senate President. January 2019.
3. Witt, Emily. “The Education of Emma González.” The New Yorker, March 7, 2018.
4. Mazzei, Patricia. “F.B.I. Agrees to Pay $127.5 Million to Settle Parkland Shooting Lawsuit.” The New York Times, November 2022.