This is a really sad story. It’s also a story about real heroes. Among the victims of the Parkland shooting were three Junior ROTC members who ran toward the fire:
Three cadets killed in the Parkland school shooting are being posthumously honored for their acts of heroism.
The Army is recognizing Peter Wang, 15, and Martin Duque and Alaina Petty, both 14, with the Medal of Heroism for the danger and extraordinary responsibility they took on during last week’s shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.
Friends said the three always had a sense of duty and honor as members of the school’s junior ROTC.
Also Tuesday, the U.S. Military Academy at West Point posthumously admitted Peter to the prestigious academy on the day of his funeral. It’s where Peter dreamed of attending. He could have been in the Class of 2025.
Peter died in his JROTC uniform last Wednesday, holding the door open to allow others to escape, as gunman Nikolas Cruz shot and killed 17 at Marjory Stoneman, authorities and witnesses said.
“He saved people’s lives,” said Victoria Downing, one of Peter’s classmates, at the funeral service. “He deserves it.”
West Point conferred the letter of admission, along with honorarium tokens, to his family, local West Point alumnus Chad Maxey said.
Gov. Rick Scott also has directed the Florida National Guard to honor all three cadets. Alaina was honored at her funeral Monday, as Martin will be at his funeral Saturday.
They died trying to help their fellow students. There were other hero JROTC kids too:
When mass murderer Nikolas Cruz came to the campus of Marjory Stoneman Douglas high school in Parkland, Florida on Wednesday, and began slaughtering students, two Junior Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (JROTC) captains were able to use their training to protect their classmates.
Company commander Capt. Zackary Walls, 17, and Capt. Colton Haab, 17, told ABC News that they had finished formations for the afternoon when they heard Cruz shooting and were able to get students and teachers inside safely.
They also thought quickly and protected the kids in their classroom with the Kevlar curtains they use for training:
The word hero could not be used to describe the Broward County police:
An armed school resource deputy at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School stood outside of the building and did “nothing” while a gunman opened fire on students and teachers, Broward County Sheriff Scott Israel said Thursday.
“Devasted,” Israel said was his reaction at seeing video that showed the deputy taking a position outside the building, but never going in during the rampage that killed 17. “Sick to my stomach. There are no words.”
Israel identified the deputy as Scot Peterson.
After surveillance video captured the deputy standing outside the building, Israel said he was placed on unpaid leave.
Peterson has since filed for retirement from the department.
This is astonishing and depressing. It is dereliction. And it gets worse. The Broward County Sheriff, Scott Israel, has been “shooting” his mouth off in the aftermath of the tragedy.
In the wake of this week’s deadly Florida high school shooting, Broward County Sheriff Scott Israel called out local lawmakers during a candlelight vigil for the victims, saying those who did not push for new gun laws “will not get reelected.”
“If you’re an elected official, and you want to keep things the way they are, and not do things differently, if you want to keep the gun laws as they are now, you will not get re-elected in Broward County,” Israel said Thursday night to cheers, as locals grieved the 17 victims killed a day earlier.
Today we learn that, in addition to the 39 times police had been summoned to Cruz’s residence, Cruz had repeatedly threatened people with a gun:
On the day after Thanksgiving, Cruz was at work at a Dollar Tree store. Rocxanne Deschamps’ son, Rock, 22, called 911 to report that an “adopted 19-year-old son” had possibly hidden a “gun in the backyard,” according to a dispatcher’s notes. Rock Deschamps told law enforcement “there were no weapons allowed in the household,” the report said. It’s unclear from the record whether sheriff’s deputies conducted a search. The incident was classified as “domestic unfounded,” which means a deputy didn’t find proof to back up the claims.
The Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office was called again to the home four days later, when Rock said Cruz lashed out against the family that took him in, according to the Palm Beach deputy’s report and dispatcher notes. The deputy went to a local park and found Cruz, who explained that he had misplaced a photo of his recently deceased mother and, emotionally distraught, began punching the wall. Cruz lost control the same way he had several times in the past at his mother’s home in Parkland, Florida, when he had not taken his prescribed mood-altering medication, as CNN has previously reported based on Broward police documents.
Rock interrupted Cruz and a fight broke out between them, according to the documents. Cruz left the home, and Rocxanne Deschamps called 911. She warned the police dispatcher that Cruz said “he was going to get his gun and come back,” records show. She said Cruz had “bought a gun from Dick’s last week and is now going to pick it up.”
Rocxanne Deschamps told the dispatcher that Cruz had “bought tons of ammo” and “has used a gun against ppl before,” the notes said. “He has put the gun to others heads in the past.”
The people of Palm Beach and Broward Counties may want to take up Israel’s advice and elect a Sheriff and a police force up to the job of protecting people. The kids did their best.
DrJohn has been a health care professional for more than 30 years. In addition to clinical practice he has done extensive research and has published widely with over 70 original articles and abstracts in the peer-reviewed literature. DrJohn is well known in his field and has lectured on every continent except for Antarctica. He has been married to the same wonderful lady for over 30 years and has three kids- two sons, both of whom are attorneys and one daughter on her way into the field of education.
DrJohn was brought up with the concept that one can do well if one is prepared to work hard but nothing in life is guaranteed.
Except for liberals being foolish.