Demolition begins at Parkland Florida school shooting scene

The Parkland, Florida, school building where a gunman killed 17 people six years ago is being demolished, sparking mixed emotions among still-grieving parents.

The demolition began Friday morning as some members of the victims' families watched from afar.

The February 2018 shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School is one of the deadliest school shootings in U.S. history.

The culprit was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole in 2022.

Authorities invited families of students killed in the massacre to watch the first blows to the building if they wished.

Lori Alhadeff, whose 14-year-old daughter Alyssa was killed, told CBS, the BBC's US partner, that she wanted the building to go.

“This is another step in the healing process for me and my family,” she said. “My son still goes to school there and he has to walk past the building where his sister died.”

Like Ms. Alhadeff, Jackson Meaney, an incoming sophomore at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, thinks the demolition of the building is a “good thing.”

“Nobody really knows what they’re going to replace it with,” Mr. Meaney said. “It might be interesting to see what they do about it. But [the demolition is] a good thing.”

Other parents, however, said they had hoped the building would remain standing to honor the students who lost their lives.

Among them are Gena and Thomas Hoyer, who lost their son Luke in the shooting.

“For me, the problem with this building is that it’s the last place Luke was alive,” Ms. Hoyer said. “It’s hard for me to think that the building is collapsing.”

She acknowledged, however, that she understands that the Parkland community and some families “need closure.”

“I don’t need it for myself, there will never be a closure, but I understand the feelings of the community,” she said.

The local school board in Broward County, Florida has not yet determined what will replace the building.

Previously, school administrators had suggested that a field for the school band or Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps, or JROTC, be placed there, along with a path leading to a temporary memorial set in place several years ago.

Some of the students killed in the shooting participated in the school band or JROTC.

Tony Montalto, whose daughter Gina, 14, died that day, said he would like to see a permanent memorial replace the one currently in place.

“We’re also part of the community,” he told CBS.

But Mr. Montalto acknowledges that there are “a lot of conflicting emotions” that accompany the building's demolition.

“My son is worried that people will now forget that the building is being demolished,” he said.

“My wife said she kind of grew attached to this space as we went through it so many times with different leaders and policymakers.”

The shooter who fired the shots, Nikolas Cruz, was sentenced in November 2022 to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

The previous month, a Florida jury voted not to sentence him to death, a decision that sparked outrage among victims' relatives.