Watching relieved parents reunite with their children in the immediate aftermath of Wednesday’s mass shooting at a South Florida high school, it was impossible not to think about the others — the less fortunate ones. The parents frantically calling their children’s cellphones, hearing their panicked calls go straight to voice mail,slowly coming to understand that they would never hug their child again.
In the latest school shooting — a phrase so grotesquely, uniquely common to the United States — 17 people were killed and 15 injured. Among the dead: a 17-year-old senior excited about his upcoming college swimming scholarship; a football coach who jumped in front of the gunman to shield students from the bullets; a 15-year-old girl remembered for her love of soccer and writing.