Florida school shooting survivors en route to talk guns, mental health with legislators

Senior Isabelle Robinson, 17, and 100-plus students from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, board a bus outside a Publix Super Market on Tuesday, Feb. 20, 2018, in Parkland, Fla., to make their way to the state capital in Tallahassee, Fla., to advocate for stricter gun control laws.

PARKLAND – With sleeping bags in hand and a mission to make a change, an estimated 100 high school students boarded three buses Tuesday afternoon en route to Florida's capital.

“Lawmakers, wake up, because I’m coming, and I’m not being quiet,” said senior Tyra Hemans as she held a sign reading "Enough. No guns" in a sea of people waiting to board the buses.

Around 1 p.m., students and their families, teachers and several local and national media outlets gathered at a Publix parking lot off Coral Ridge Drive, five minutes from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland. 

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Hemans, 19, lost three of her friends after Nikolas Cruz, 19, a former student, allegedly opened fire on campus, killing 17 people, both students and adults, on Feb. 14.

Marjory Stoneman Douglas junior Connor Dietrich, 17, checks his phone as more than 100 students from the school make their way toward Tallahassee, Fla., on Tuesday, Feb. 20, 2018, to advocate for stricter gun control laws. Dietrich, a member of the swim team, was a good friend of team captain Nick Dworet, who was killed during last week's shooting. "I'm missing his funeral to do this," Dietrich said. "I don't want his death to be in vain."

Police said Cruz was armed with an AR-15-style rifle, multiple magazines of ammunition, a gas mask and smoke grenades.

In the wake of the shooting, Stoneman Douglas students came together to call for an end to gun violence and to make sure this doesn't happen again. 

A week later the tight-knit community is still reeling. 

Most spend their days attending loved ones’ funerals, lighting a candle at a vigil or laying flowers on a memorial, one set up at the high school and another at a nearby park.

Junior Jaclyn Corin, 17, organized the trip to speak with lawmakers in Tallahassee about enacting stricter gun and mental health laws.

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On the roof of an SUV, Corin addressed the crowd Tuesday before giving everyone their bus assignments.

“I set this trip up in a matter of 48 hours and am so glad you guys are here to support me and all of us and our school,” Corin said.

Florida Sen. Lauren Book provided the buses to the students. 

The buses should arrive in Tallahassee by 9 p.m. tonight. When they arrive, Students are set to speak with Book and fellow lawmakers at Leon High School to prepare for Wednesday's advocacy meetings.

They plan to stay overnight at the Donald L. Tucker Civic Center and wake up early the next day to walk to the Capitol's senate building. They are scheduled to arrive by 8 a.m.  

There, they hope to speak with state leaders, including Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi, Speaker of the House Richard Corcoran and Florida Sens. Joe Negron and Kevin Rader.

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AP environmental teacher Tammy Orilio passes out water to students from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School as they board to make their way toward the state capital in Tallahassee, Fla., to advocate for stricter gun control laws.

Emotions were high on the trek to Tallahassee. Nearly every student felt a flood of emotions: sadness, hope, grief and a determination to see change. 

Freshman Lindsey Salomone, 15, and her sister Julia, 18, lost many of their classmates, but despite their grief, the sisters are working to ensure that no one else goes through what they went through.

“We want (the) state Legislature to hear our story,” Julia Salomone said. “We now know what it’s like, and we’re not going to let our kids die in vain.”

Julia Salomone was in class a couple of buildings away from the freshman building, where her sister was when the shooting began.

“I couldn’t breathe until you got in the car with me,” Julia Salomone said to her sister, who sat safely beside her on the bus.

Julia Salomone said she must have called her sister about 17 times after the fire alarm rang. She didn't hear any gunshots but assumed something bad happened when her classmates started running from campus.  

Lindsey Salomone, who was in study hall at the time, saw bullets strike through the window of her classroom's door. 

When she walked into the hallway, she saw dead bodies of her classmates.

“I’m still in shock,” she said.

The two finally reunited and were picked up by Julia Salomone's friend who attends a nearby school.

They are on their way to Tallahassee because of every student's determination, courage and work ethic, said Tammy Orilio, the school's AP environmental teacher.

"Our kids are old enough to understand what needs to be done," Orilio said.

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Many students agreed that this tragedy brought them even closer together. Some even formed new friendships. 

Seniors Jose Iglesias, 17, and Isabelle Robinson, 17, once acquaintances, are now great friends.  

“Everyone is really coming together,” said Iglesias, who wore a Douglas Eagles sweatshirt.

It's because they're all in the same fight, Robinson said.

“We want to start small, in the state, and hopefully other states will see us as an example,” she said.