PARKLAND, FLA. (WSVN) - The eerie site of the three-story building where 17 people died in the 2018 mass shooting at Parkland’s Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School has been torn down.
In May, Broward County school officials announced the demolition of the 1200 building. The demolition process officially started last month and was expected to continue over the course of several weeks.
The victims’ families were invited to witness the first blows to the building and hammer off a piece if they wished. Many of them believing this was one step closer to healing.
The building holds dire significance as the location where a gunman took the lives of 14 students and three staff members on Feb. 14, 2018.
The shooter, Nikolas Cruz, a former Stoneman Douglas student, received a life sentence in 2022 after a jury could not unanimously agree that he deserved the death penalty. The building couldn’t be demolished earlier because it was critical to Cruz’s trial and prosecutors had jurors tour it during the 2022 penalty trial.
In a recent and unique settlement one survivor, Anthony Borge, now owns the rights to the gunman’s name.
According to the settlement, Cruz agreed to transfer the rights to his name as applies to media; this includes the use of it in production, movie, book, television, cable TV, etc. The settlement agreement also stipulates the shooter must donate his brain for scientific study. Furthermore, Cruz is also prohibited from participating in any interviews without the written consent of Borge.
The Broward school board has not decided what the building will be replaced with. Teachers suggested a practice field for the band, Junior ROTC and other groups, connected by a landscaped pathway to a nearby memorial that was erected a few years ago. Several of the students killed belonged to the band or JROTC.
Crews will clear the final debris before school starts in the fall.
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