Parkland remembers victims 5 years after school massacre

PARKLAND, Fla. — People released doves, lit candles, recited prayers and shed tears Tuesday as the Parkland community commemorated the fifth anniversary of the murder of 14 students and three staff members at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School and showed support for their families. “The love, support and kindness — it’s beautiful.” The ceremony acknowledged the shooting at Michigan State University on Monday night that left three students dead and five wounded. “My heart bleeds for them — I know what those families are going to go through,” said Max Schachter, whose 14-year-old son Alex died at Stoneman Douglas. “In order to grieve, you have to have loved, and to have the opportunity to love is the single most important opportunity any of us have in our lives.” Sultan Mohiuddin Mohammed, imam of the Islamic Center of South Florida, said that “one of the greatest gifts of life is having so much good around us, having all the people we love around us.” “The unfortunate thing about it is that none of us here can guarantee when that life will come to an end, that gift comes to an end. President Joe Biden issued a video statement mourning the anniversary, saying that “to some of you, it seemed like yesterday,” and saluting the victims’ families and the survivors.