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| As Victims Are Mourned in Florida, a Search for Solace, and Action | As Victims Are Mourned in Florida, a Search for Solace, and Action |
| (about 4 hours later) | |
| PARKLAND, Fla. — On the Sunday after a local high school lost 17 of its own, a minister in Parkland implored his flock not to let the horrific shootings lead them away from their faith. | |
| “Our world is broken, but Jesus is not,” Pastor Eddie Bevill of the Parkridge Church told the congregation, in reaction to the statements some students have made about the futility of prayer as a response to gun violence. “We pray that in the midst of the pain we are experiencing, that we can know you, Jesus.” | “Our world is broken, but Jesus is not,” Pastor Eddie Bevill of the Parkridge Church told the congregation, in reaction to the statements some students have made about the futility of prayer as a response to gun violence. “We pray that in the midst of the pain we are experiencing, that we can know you, Jesus.” |
| At Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, the site of the shooting about a mile away, a group of grief-stricken teenage survivors vowed to change the laws that allowed the gunman to get hold of an assault weapon and use it to slaughter his former classmates. | |
| In a movement that has been building since the massacre last week, student organizers said on Sunday that they would mount a demonstration next month in Washington called March For Our Lives. Their mission is to pivot America’s long-running gun control debate — which tends to flare up with each mass shooting — toward meaningful action. | In a movement that has been building since the massacre last week, student organizers said on Sunday that they would mount a demonstration next month in Washington called March For Our Lives. Their mission is to pivot America’s long-running gun control debate — which tends to flare up with each mass shooting — toward meaningful action. |
| “We want this to stop. We need this to stop. We are protecting guns more than people,” said Emma González, 18, one of five core organizers, whose impassioned speech at a rally in Fort Lauderdale on Saturday drew national attention. “We are not trying to take people’s guns away; we are trying to make sure we have gun safety.” | “We want this to stop. We need this to stop. We are protecting guns more than people,” said Emma González, 18, one of five core organizers, whose impassioned speech at a rally in Fort Lauderdale on Saturday drew national attention. “We are not trying to take people’s guns away; we are trying to make sure we have gun safety.” |
| Ms. González, a senior at the school, said the group was inviting elected officials “from any side of the political spectrum” to join the movement. But she said: “We don’t want anybody who is funded by the N.R.A. We want people who are going to be on the right side of history.” | Ms. González, a senior at the school, said the group was inviting elected officials “from any side of the political spectrum” to join the movement. But she said: “We don’t want anybody who is funded by the N.R.A. We want people who are going to be on the right side of history.” |
| The organizers hope the march, scheduled for March 24, will attract students from across the country, and they say more protests are planned. | The organizers hope the march, scheduled for March 24, will attract students from across the country, and they say more protests are planned. |
| Pastor Bevill’s Baptist church has a special relationship with the high school. For several years the congregation held services on the school campus, and many families of students belong to the church. | |
| “Our hearts are heavy, we are overburdened, and we are incapable of holding the weight of grief that is upon us, but that is even more true of the families of the deceased,” Pastor Bevill said on Sunday. He then read aloud the names of the dead, as congregants wiped tears from their cheeks and held their arms aloft. | “Our hearts are heavy, we are overburdened, and we are incapable of holding the weight of grief that is upon us, but that is even more true of the families of the deceased,” Pastor Bevill said on Sunday. He then read aloud the names of the dead, as congregants wiped tears from their cheeks and held their arms aloft. |
| Pastor Bevill also asked his flock to pray for the suspect in the shooting, Nikolas Cruz, although he did not mention Mr. Cruz’s name or ask that he be forgiven. “Repair his heart and his broken mind,” the pastor said, adding that “justice be served.” | |
| A mile from the school in the opposite direction, the body of Meadow Pollack, who was 18, lay on Friday in a plain wooden coffin, kept closed in accordance with Jewish tradition. | A mile from the school in the opposite direction, the body of Meadow Pollack, who was 18, lay on Friday in a plain wooden coffin, kept closed in accordance with Jewish tradition. |
| Hundreds of mourners crowded every corner of the Congregation Kol Tikvah synagogue — Meadow’s relatives, classmates, the state governor and many others. | |
| Tears slipped beneath dark sunglasses as Rabbi Bradd Boxman recalled a girl who shone “like a star.” | |
| “I’m not here to explain any of this,” he said. “I can’t tell you why Meadow died the way that she did.” | “I’m not here to explain any of this,” he said. “I can’t tell you why Meadow died the way that she did.” |
| Ms. Pollack’s boyfriend Brandon spoke about his “princess,” his shoulders slumped in pain. And her father, Andrew Pollack, stood in a black suit before the crowd and addressed the gunman. | Ms. Pollack’s boyfriend Brandon spoke about his “princess,” his shoulders slumped in pain. And her father, Andrew Pollack, stood in a black suit before the crowd and addressed the gunman. |
| “You. Killed. My. Kid.” he said, one word at a time, his voice booming through the synagogue in grief and rage. “My kid is dead. It goes through my head all day. And night. I keep hearing it over and over.” | “You. Killed. My. Kid.” he said, one word at a time, his voice booming through the synagogue in grief and rage. “My kid is dead. It goes through my head all day. And night. I keep hearing it over and over.” |
| “How does this happen to my beautiful, smart, loving daughter?” he said. “She is everything. If we could learn one thing from this tragedy, it’s that our everythings are not safe when we send them to school.” | “How does this happen to my beautiful, smart, loving daughter?” he said. “She is everything. If we could learn one thing from this tragedy, it’s that our everythings are not safe when we send them to school.” |
| The room heaved with sobbing teenagers as Ms. Pollack’s coffin was wheeled out for burial. | The room heaved with sobbing teenagers as Ms. Pollack’s coffin was wheeled out for burial. |