CORAL SPRINGS, FLA. (WSVN) - Days after the Parkland community was rocked by the suicides of two survivors of the mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, a local suicide prevention program is reporting an increase in calls.
7News cameras captured crisis operators at 211 Broward’s call center in Oakland Park, Monday afternoon.
Officials at the facility said they have seen a rise in calls in the last 24 hours.
“The most disheartening thing is to know that someone out there is feeling so much pain that they don’t know that there’s support for them,” said 211 Broward COO Francisco Isaza.
According to the Broward Medical Examiner’s Office 19-year-old Sydney Aiello died from a gunshot wound to the head over the previous weekend.
Her family said she was a close friend of shooting victim Meadow Pollack and had been suffering from survivor’s guilt.
On Sunday, officials confirmed a sophomore at MSD also took his own life.
The Broward County School Board called all parents Monday with the tragic news.
In the recorded call, Broward Public Schools Superintendent Robert Runcie said, “In the wake of two suicides that have devastated our community this past week, parents, it is important for you to talk with your children and be able to recognize signs of personal crisis that could lead to suicide.”
Broward public school students are currently on spring break. On Sunday, school board members, mental health specialists and parents met to come up with an action plan on what the community can do to help these students who maybe suffering in silence.
Because of the concern, the Parkland community has a place to go: the recently opened Eagles’ Haven along Coral Ridge Drive in Coral Springs. The facility is described as a “wellness center created solely and mindfully for the MSD/Eagles community giving current, future and former students, family members and faculty one responsive and nurturing place to call or drop in for any supportive service or wellness need seven days a week, free of charge.”
At Eagles’ Haven, master clinicians and social clinicians are on staff to offer help.
“We’re very concerned about the recent two suicides that have occurred this past week,” said Sarah Franco, director of Eagles’ Haven and executive director of the nonprofit Jewish Adoption and Family Care Options, or JAFCO.
Ryan Petty, who lost his daughter Alaina in the mass shooting, said the Parkland community continues to cope with a seismic wave of grief and sorrow.
“We need it to stop. Seventeen is too many; 19 is too many,” said Petty.
The ripple effects from school shootings extend beyond South Florida. Jeremy Richman, the father of Sandy Hook shooting victim Avielle Richman, was found dead from an apparent suicide, Monday morning. He was 49.
“It’s really important that parents understand one of the things that they can do to best help their children, if they are concerned about them thinking about suicide, is to ask the question directly,” said Isaza. “‘Have you been thinking about suicide?’ ‘How are you feeling?’ ‘Have you thought about killing yourself?’ Asking that direct question is extremely important.”
“Just ask and just listen, because people who are committing suicide or thinking of it do sometimes share and that they have a plan,” said Franco.
For more information about 211 Broward, click here. For more information about Eagles’ Haven, click here.
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