The father of a Parkland school shooting victim ripped administrators Tuesday for using a technicality to try to avoid any responsibility in the brutal beating of a student in a nearby parking lot.
The unidentified male victim suffered a fractured skull when he was punched, kicked and dropped on his head in a parking lot across the street from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., last week.
Fred Guttenberg, whose daughter Jaime was one of 17 victims shot to death at school by mass murderer Nikolas Cruz in 2018, is among a group of parents who say administrators are avoiding accountability for the attack.
Protesting parents say school officials have tried to absolve themselves of responsibility for the shocking attack, which has led to five arrests so far, saying it was technically off school property.
In an email to parents, the school said, “The park is not school or district property; however, the school is working with law enforcement to help identify those involved.”
A student was knocked unconscious outside Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.
Guttenberg told The Post on Tuesday that although “the parking lot is technically off campus … the school has all the students who drive park their cars in that lot across the street. That’s where the students walk to and from every day. “
Guttenberg, who has emerged as a vocal and influential voice for gun reform in the wake of the Parkland massacre, said students should enjoy a sense of safety not only at school but all around.
“Over the years since the shooting I have referred that real school safety involves what happens outside that perimeter,” he said. “And I was talking specifically about that parking lot.”
Schools across the country often try to distance themselves from an untoward incident if it happens near campus but off their property line.
Five teenagers were arrested this week in connection with the case. Local 10
The defense is often used in cyberbullying cases, frustrating parents who argue that their complaints of abuse are ignored if the incident does not take place directly on campus.
“It’s not a good look,” a Broward County school source said of Parkland’s stance. “Students from this school, they are outside the school. They’re not fooling anyone, and trying to abdicate responsibility will only make things worse.”
Last week’s attack led to felony battery charges against five teenagers, identified by police as Sylvester Hicks, 16, Jahmeer Beauziel, 17, Caleb Hensley, 17, Jordan Thompson, 16, and Chinua Leefatt, 15.
Four of them attended Marjory Stoneman Douglas, while the fifth attended Coral Glades High School.
Police are still looking for a sixth suspect.
School principal Michelle Kefford said she would move to expel the Stoneman student involved in the attack.
Fred Guttenberg, who lost his teenage daughter in the 2018 massacre at the school, criticized Marjory Stoneman Douglas officials for distancing themselves from the incident. AP
Leefatt’s father, Barrington Leefatt, told local media that his son was attacked first and was the real victim in the case.
The Parkland campus has been burdened with the legacy of the 2018 massacre, with staff telling The Post that incidents of violence were inevitable because of its history.
“There are fights all over the district,” the staffer said. “But we’re Parkland, it comes with the territory now.”
Cruz was sentenced to 17 life terms last year for the Valentine’s Day massacre.
The victim of the parking lot attack suffered a fractured skull.
The former Stoneman student entered the school with an AR-15 assault rifle and began spraying defenseless victims with bullets.
All told, 14 students and three workers lost their lives.
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
