An SU Student Recalls the Tragic MSD Shooting 3 Years Ago

Benjamin Schiller, Syracuse, NY —- This past Sunday marked the three-year anniversary of the tragic shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. 17 students, teachers, and staff members were killed, with another 17 students left injured. Two more students committed suicide in the weeks following the shooting. 

“It’s been three years for us, but tomorrow will be day one for someone else,” said Samuel Schneider, a current SU Sophomore and 2019 graduate of MSD. Valentine’s Day 2018 still plays out in the head of Samuel Schneider. It’s been three years since one of the most tragic school shootings ever occurred at his high school. 

“This is something that is going to live with me for the rest of my life. This is not going anywhere because you have that constant yearly reminder,” said Schneider. He will never forget where he was when he had learned that a shooter walked into his school at the end of the academic day. 

“When I found out for sure that everything was happening, I was in my room and I will never forget how I found out because my mom texted me and all her texts said was ‘shooting at school,’” said Schneider. 

He recalls how fortunate he felt that his sister, Ava, a freshman at the time, made it home safely. “We had a full dinner table at night, but a lot of families didn’t and we wanted to do everything we could to help them,” said Schneider. 

This thought helped Schneider and his dad brainstorm a plan to help raise money to support school safety and combating gun violence. “One of his good friends owns a printing company and what we did is me and my dad worked with them and we created these car magnets and stickers for your computer and we sold those and we made over $11,000 that we donated to each of the charities,” said Schneider. 

Now, a student in Newhouse, Schneider remembers one moment from his first week of classes as an SU student. “I was sitting there, and like ‘I am excited about the class’ and I get the textbook and I open the textbook and the first page of the textbook talks about my school,” said Schneider.

This moment made Schneider realize that regardless of being 1,200 miles away from home, he will always be reminded of the tragedy. 

“I can try all I want. This is never going to leave me. Like, this is going to be a part of me forever,” said Schneider.