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When a gunman opened fire with an AR-15 at a large high school in south Florida, the 17 dead included students and school workers, young and old. Here is a look at some of some of those who lost their lives in the massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School:
COACH AND SECURITY MONITOR
Assistant football coach Aaron Feis was shot to death while selflessly shielding students from bullets. A tweet from the school football program ended: “He died a hero and he will forever be in our hearts and memories.”
Feis graduated from the school in 1999 and worked mainly with the junior varsity, the team website said. It said he lived in nearby Coral Springs with his wife and daughter.
The team website said Feis spent his entire coaching career at Marjory Stoneman after playing there as a student.
The Sun Sentinel reported that Feis, acting as a school security guard, responded to the original call on a school walkie-talkie. Someone on the radio asked if loud sounds they heard were firecrackers, said football coach Willis May, who also carries a radio.
“I heard Aaron say, ‘No, that is not firecrackers.’ That’s the last I heard of him,” May said.
FRIEND WON’T GET TO SAY ‘I GRADUATED HIGH SCHOOL’
Joaquin Oliver, 17, was known by his nickname “Guac,” short for “guacamole,” because many couldn’t pronounce his first name.
“My friend will literally never get to say, `I graduated high school,”‘ said Tyra Hemans, a 19-year-old who said she had been friends with Oliver since they were freshmen.
Hemans said she last saw her friend at school the day of the shooting.
“It was just a brief `Happy Valentine’s,”‘ she said. “He was with his girlfriend and I was just like, `Oh my God, you guys are so cute.”‘
She added, “He’s just a goofball. He’s the only kid you’d know that would dye his hair bleach-blond, walk around school, put some tiger stripes in and just be unique. He was a unique soul.”
ATHLETIC DIRECTOR ‘WAS JUST AMAZING’
A married father of two and the athletic director at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, Chris Hixon wasn’t shy about jumping in wherever he was needed, said friend and one-time colleague Dianne Sanzari.
Hixon was a member of a Roman Catholic church in Hollywood. The Archdiocese of Miami confirmed his death Thursday.
When a volleyball team needed a fill-in coach, Hixon took over; the same thing happened with the wrestling team, Sanzari said. And when the school needed someone to patrol the campus and monitor threats as a security specialist, Hixon did that, too.
It was in that security role that Hixon apparently came within range of the shooter.
‘AN ANGEL TAKEN AWAY FROM US’
Meadow Pollack’s parents called her phone repeatedly only to hear it ring, as they kept an anxious vigil outside the hospital. But on Thursday, her father, Andrew Pollack, confirmed that his daughter was among the dead, the Palm Beach Post reported.
Eighteen-year-old Pollack, a senior, had planned to attend Lynn University, her father said.
“Her life was taken way too soon and I have no words to describe how this feels,” friend Gii Lovito posted on Facebook.
Family friend Adam Schachtel said in a Facebook post that “an angel was taken away from us in that horrific tragedy … no words can be said so just prayers and sadness.”
VICTIM’S FAMILY: “LIVE FOR ALYSSA!”
Among the youngest victims was Alyssa Alhadeff, an avid soccer player whose mother creamed into CNN’s camera demanding that President Donald Trump take action.
“President Trump, you say what can you do?” Lori Alhadeff said. “You can stop the guns from getting into these children’s hands! Put metal detectors at every entrance to the schools. What can you do? You can do a lot! This is not fair to our families and our children go to school and have to get killed!
“I just spent the last two hours putting the burial arrangements for my daughters funeral, who is 14! Fourteen! President Trump, please do something! Do something. Action! We need it now!”
Later, on her Facebook page, she urged people to kiss their children, and “Live for Alyssa! Be her voice and breathe for her.”
“SELFLESS SERVICE”
Fourteen-year-old Alaina Petty was among those who died in the shooting, her family confirmed in a statement.
“It is important to sum up all that Alaina was and meant to her family and friends. Alaina was a vibrant and determined young woman, loved by all who knew her. Alaina loved to serve,” the statement read, adding that she had joined volunteers who “rushed to the most heavily impacted areas of Florida to clean up and help rebuild the lives of those devastated by Hurricane Irma. Her selfless service brought peace and joy to those that had lost everything during the storm.”
Petty attended a local Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Petty was a “valiant young member of the Coral Springs Ward,” Church leader Stephen E. Thompson wrote in an update.
GEOGRAPHY TEACHER HELPED STUDENTS
Students said geography teacher Scott Beigel, 35, helped them enter a locked classroom to avoid the gunman and paid for the brave act with his life.
“If the shooter would have come into the room, I probably wouldn’t be speaking to you now,” student Kelsey Friend told Good Morning America.
Friend said when she heard gunshots and realized it wasn’t a drill she followed other students toward the classroom.
Beigel “unlocked the door and let us in,” she said. “I thought he was behind me, but he wasn’t. When he opened the door he had to relock it so we could stay safe, but he didn’t get a chance to.”
Student Bruna Oliveda said she saw Beigel blocking the door.
“I don’t know how we’re alive,” she said.
JAIME GUTTENBERG
Ninth grader Jaime Guttenberg, 14, loved to dance and hoped to become an occupational therapist and mother, aunt Abbie Youkilis said.
“She always looked out for the underdog and the bullied and she probably had been kind to the (former) student who shot her,” Youkilis said in a written statement sent to The Associated Press.
Guttenberg leaves her parents, Fred and Jennifer Guttenberg, and brother Jesse. Her father said in a Facebook post that he is “trying to figure out how my family gets through this.”
Youkilis called for gun-control legislation, saying Jaime’s parents were “the world’s most loving and over-protective parents but they could not protect Jaime from the sickness that has gripped our country.”
NICHOLAS DWORET
Nicholas Dworet had committed to swim for the University of Indianapolis.
The college announced Thursday that the senior was among those killed in the mass shooting at his high school.
In a statement, UIndy swimming coach Jason Hite called Dworet an “energetic and very vibrant kind” who cheered for his soon-to-be university during a swimming meet last month.
“I spoke with his mom this morning, and she reiterated the fact that he was really looking forward to this next step in his life and becoming a Hound,” said Hite. “He really felt like he had a family in the team, and was really excited about what we’re doing up here.”
Dworet’s family released a statement about his death which reads:
“The family is heartbroken and devastated to have lost Nicholas. He was a happy young man full of joy & life. He was extremely passionate about swimming. Nicholas was thrilled to be going to University of Indianapolis to join their Swim Team. He dreamed of making the Olympic swim team and going to the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo. He believed he could accomplish anything as long as he tried his best. He was extremely excited to have met the love of his life. He loved his family and friends with all his heart. The family along with their younger son Alexander, who was also a victim of the shooting and recovering at home, wishes to thank everyone for all the love and support they have received. They ask kindly to have their privacy respected in order to deal with their loss. Nicholas will be missed by all who knew and loved him.”
GINA MONTALTO
Only 14 years old, Gina Montalto was a freshman on Douglas High’s winter guard team.
“My heart is broken into pieces. I will forever remember you my sweet angel,” Manuel Miranda, one of her former color guard instructors, told the Miami Herald. “She was the sweetest soul ever. She was kind, caring always smiling and wanting to help.”
Like Jaime Guttenberg, Montalto volunteered with The Friendship Initiative, an organization with programs for children with special needs, according to founder Jeb Niewood.
“Gina was also young when she started [to volunteer] with us, but she immediately took to the program and bonded very quickly with the children she worked with,” he told Fox News. “She just had an openness about her and such warmth and exuberance for life.”
BALLOONS FOR THE VICTIMS
Shooting victim Martin Duque was one of Isaac Briones’ best friends.
“He was like, one of the nicest people I knew,” said Briones, 15. “He was so caring.”
Briones said he last saw Martin the day of the shooting during first period.
“We were just playing around, talking about jokes and stuff,” said Isaac, who was outside the school Thursday with others holding a group of white balloons for the victims.
On Instagram, Miguel Duque wrote that words can’t describe the pain of losing his brother. He added: “I love brother Martin you’ll be missed buddy. I know you’re in a better place. Duques forever man I love you junior!!! R.I.P Martin Duque!”
PETER WANG
Peter Wang, a 15-year-old ROTC student at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, wasn’t interested in status but wanted to help others, relatives said.
A cousin, Aaron Chen, told the Miami Herald that Wang was last seen holding a door open so others could get away from the gunman.
Friends and relatives first thought Wang was just missing and checked with area hospitals. They later found out he had been killed.
“He wasn’t supposed to die,” Chen told First Coast News.
CARMEN MARIE SCHENTRUP
Carmen Marie Schentrup, 16, was identified as one of the fatal victims of the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.
In September, she was named one of 53 National Merit Scholarship Program semifinalists in the county and a classmate tweeted “we all praised for her intelligence.”
Cousin Matt Brandow posted on Facebook that the 16-year-old visited Washington State recently and said she wanted to go to the University of Washington. He asked: you like the rain?
“She answers, I hate sweating in the humid Florida weather,” Brandow wrote. “That’s when I knew you were perfect for Washington.”
Carmen is described as an ambitious young woman who loved to play piano.
ALEX SCHACHTER
Trombone and baritone player Alex Schachter was a “sweetheart of a kid,” according to a social media post by his family.
In honor of his 14-year-old freshman son, a relative of the youth’s father, Max Schachter, wrote on a gofundme page that he was starting a scholarship fund “to help other students experience the joys of music as well as fund increased security at schools.”
The message said: “Please help keep Alex’s spirit alive.”
HELENA RAMSEY
Helena Ramsay was soft-spoken, but also smart and a go-getter, her cousin Sefena Cooper said Thursday.
The 17-year-old junior especially loved hanging out with friends and family, “and for this to happen is heartbreaking,” Cooper said.
“Although somewhat reserved, she had a relentless motivation towards her academic studies and her soft warm demeanor brought the best out in all who knew her,” another relative, Curtis Page Jr., wrote on Facebook.
“She was so brilliant and witty, and I’m still wrestling with the idea that she is actually gone,” he wrote. “She would have started college next year.”
CARA LOUGHRAN
Cara Loughran, 14, was an excellent student who loved the beach and her cousins, according to her family.
An aunt, Lindsay Fontana, wrote on Facebook: “I had to tell my 8-year-old daughters that their sweet cousin Cara was killed in the shooting at Stoneman Douglas High School yesterday. We are absolutely gutted.”
“While your thoughts are appreciated, I beg you to DO SOMETHING,” she wrote. “This should not have happened to our niece Cara and it cannot happen to other people’s families.”
Loughran’s neighbor posted a picture of her cheering on a young boy riding a bike with training wheels.
“RIP Cara,” Danny Vogel wrote, “and fly with the angels. You will be greatly missed, and we will always love you and celebrate your beautiful life.”
LUKE HOYER
Fifteen-year-old Luke Hoyer was a loving, sweet person who loved basketball and “smiled all the time,” his aunt Joan Cox said.
“He was just a good kid … very loving and just enjoyed life,” said Cox, of Greenville, South Carolina.
She said Luke’s parents, Gena and Tom Hoyer, searched for their son at hospitals before finally going to the law enforcement command center, where they eventually learned he had died.
“It’s just a terrible thing,” said Cox, who said the family — including Luke’s older sister Abby and brother Jake — spent Christmas with her and other family in South Carolina. “We just all pretty much can’t get over it.”
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