Ballistics experts reenact the Parkland school shooting
Ballistics experts reenacted the deadliest school shooting in American history on Friday.
The reenactment took place over five years after a gunman entered Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida and shot and killed 17 students and staff members.
The building has remained standing and largely unchanged since the shooting on February 14, 2018. Its hallways are still filled with bullet holes, blood splatters, shattered glass, and old Valentine’s Day decorations from five years ago.
The site was also briefly toured by the jury during the criminal trial against shooter Nikolas Cruz.
Demolition of the building is scheduled to begin immediately after the reenactment has finished.
The shooting is being re-examined as part of a civil lawsuit against former school resource officer Scot Peterson, who failed to go inside the school building as the mass shooting took place.
Peterson was eventually acquitted on criminal charges of child neglect and culpable negligence. However, he still faces a civil suit brought by the families of the victims and survivors.
Peterson contends that from his position, he could not hear where the shots were coming from.
‘Two dozen witnesses came in here one by one and told you they couldn’t tell from the sounds precisely what area we’re talking about,’ his criminal defense attorney Mark Eiglarsh said.
Plaintiffs are hoping that a reenactment will disprove this.
Judge Carol-Lisa Phillips granted the plaintiffs permission to stage the reenactment, which they intend to submit as evidence through audio and visual recordings.
Judge Phillips has not confirmed whether she will allow that evidence to be seen by a jury.
Before the reenactment took place, a delegation of eight lawmakers toured the campus for about an hour and 40 minutes.
The delegation consisted of six Democrats and three Republicans. It was organized by Representative Jared Moskowitz, a Democrat who represents Parkland and parts of Broward County in Congress. Moskowitz was a former student at Marjory Stoneman Douglas.
‘You can read about it all day long, and debate it all day long, but it is not the same as walking through the school,’ Moskowitz said.
Got a story? Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk. Or you can submit your videos and pictures here.
For more stories like this, check our news page.
Follow Metro.co.uk on Twitter and Facebook for the latest news updates. You can now also get Metro.co.uk articles sent straight to your device. Sign up for our daily push alerts here.