140 bullets to be shot at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School as experts re-enact 2018 Parkland shooting

As part of a lawsuit filed by the victims’ families, nearly 140 bullets will be shot at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida on Friday – a court order that has not gone down well with the community.

Experts are going to re-enact the horrific scenes from the 2018 massacre that killed 17 and wounded several others. The demonstration will be part of a lawsuit filed against Scot Peterson, the former sheriff’s deputy who is accused of failing to protect students and staff during the massacre which lasted for six minutes.

Peterson has claimed that he had no idea where the gunshots were coming from, which largely led to the delay in taking action to prevent the tragedy from unfolding. Some of the victims’ families have counter-claimed that Peterson’s account of what went down on the ill-fated day was next to impossible.

Also Read | Everything to know about Scot Peterson’s role in 2018 Parkland shooting

Peterson reportedly arrived outside the classroom building back in 2018 about two minutes after the shooting began. After getting within feet of the building’s door, he drew his gun, but then retreated. He then stood next to a neighboring building for 40 minutes. In an interview he gave back then, he insisted that he would have charged into the building if he knew where the shooter was. “I never would have sat there and let my kids get slaughtered,” he said on NBC’s Today.

The re-enactment will be taking place inside the high school on Friday. Experts will stand outside the building and record the sounds of 139 bullets being fired, to understand better what the then-deputy likely heard on that day. For shooting the bullets inside the school, the same AR-15-style semiautomatic will be used as was used by infamous Parkland shooter Nikolas Cruz. The shooting will also take place in the same areas of the building the shooting infiltrated.

A safety device will catch the bullets, according to AP.

Also Read | Who is David Hogg, former students at Marjorie Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland?

Broward County Public Schools has said that Marjory Stoneman Douglas High and neighboring Westglades Middle School will be closed to all students, staff and visitors on Friday.

“District and school leadership understand how difficult this event may be for the entire community,” the school district said in late July. “Advanced notice of this court-ordered event is being provided to families at all schools within the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High zone, so they are aware and can make plans that best fit their needs on the day of the reenactment.”

During the reenactment, the roads around the high school, including Pine Island Road and Holmberg Road, will be closed too.

Some people were not happy by the decision to reenact the tragedy from 2018. They showed their anger in response to a Facebook post by TAPintoParkland reporting the road closures.

“Cannot understand why this reenactment is necessary. This borders on insanity,” one user wrote. Another wrote: “This is horrific. Our town has been through enough.”

Another person added: “This just seems a little much and insensitive. We warn people about fireworks because of veterans with ptsd. I see no difference here.”