PARKLAND, Fla. — Outside Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School sits a memorial garden honoring 17 students and teachers who lost their lives in a mass murder at the school five years ago.
On Friday, inside the school, there will be another reminder of what happened.
Once again, gunfire will punctuate classrooms, like it did when 17-year-old Nikolas Cruz went on a shooting rampage nearly six years ago.
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Tony Montalto, whose daughter Gina was among the shooting victims, plans to be there.
“It will be difficult,” Montalto said. “Sadly though, we need to do it. We need to try and have the myths and falsehoods described in the failed deputy’s trial broken.”
Scot Peterson is the failed deputy Montalto is referring to.
The reenactment is part of a lawsuit Montalto, and others, filed against the Broward County Sheriff’s Office and Peterson, who was recently acquitted on criminal charges of abandoning the school when it was attacked.
“Let’s not forget, not only did he run away, but he stood there,” Montalto said. “He stood there for over 40 minutes.”
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Before the reenactment, U.S. Rep. Jared Moskowitz, D-Fla., District 23, and U.S. Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart, R-Fla., District 26, will tour the school with families and later talk about proposals to make schools safer.
“To hear what the families who suffered most have to say,” Montalto said.
The Broward County School District eventually plans to demolish Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.