PARKLAND, Fla. (AP) – Aria Siccone is haunted by the image: A terrified boy knocking on the door of her locked classroom as a gunman started firing at the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School two week ago.
She said no one let him in out of fear that the shooter would follow. He was fatally shot.
Under heavy police guard, Siccone and hundreds of others returned to the high school Wednesday for the first time since 14 students and three staff members were gunned down. The half-day began with fourth period so the survivors could first see, hug and cry with the same people they were with during the shooting.
“The one thing that bothers me the most … is how I saw the boy in the door and we couldn’t let him in and that just hurts a lot,” said Siccone, who is 15. If they had, “The shooter could have followed him in and hurt so many more people.”
Faculty and staff greet police officers stationed outside of at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School on Wednesday, Feb. 28, 2018 in Parkland, Fla. With a heavy police presence, classes resumed for the first time since several students and teachers were killed by a former student on Feb. 14. (Matias J. Ocner/Miami Herald via AP)The hundreds of police officers on hand for the school’s reopening brought comfort dogs, a donkey, and horses, one of which had “eagle pride” painted on its side. A nearby woman held a sign offering “free kisses.” After school dismissed, members of the Guardian Angels wearing their trademark red berets lined the streets at a crosswalk.