PARKLAND, Fla. (AP) — Students who returned to school two weeks after 17 people were killed at their Florida school are leaving the campus after a half day.
The Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School students were greeted Wednesday morning by police officers carrying military style rifles and an array of counselors and therapy dogs. They missed two weeks of school following the Valentine’s Day mass shooting that took place in a freshman building just before dismissal.
The suspect, 19-year-old Nikolas Cruz, is in the Broward County Jail, charged with 17-counts of first-degree murder. The shooting has thrust many of the surviving students into the center of the nation’s gun debate.
But Wednesday was all about healing and getting back into a regular routine, albeit a shortened school day.