Annika Dean survived a mass shooting at the Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport last January, shielded by a stranger she called her "guardian angel." On Wednesday, her son, 14-year-old Austin Foote, also became a shooting survivor: He is a student at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, where 17 were killed. Nikolas Cruz, 19, has confessed to being the shooter.
"I had just finished teaching my classes, I was looking at my phone and my son began texting me about what was happening at Stoneman Douglas," Dean, who is an elementary school art teacher, told the Sun-Sentinel. "He said this is not a drill, this is actual, and my heart just sank. I knew what he was going through."
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
Trump orders NFL team to change name, or elseSpeed Read The president wants the Washington Commanders to change its name back to the 'Redskins'
-
Are referees and 'physicality' hurting the WNBA?Today's Big Question The league is growing, but Caitlin Clark's absence raises questions
-
Israeli gunfire kills dozens at Gaza aid siteSpeed Read The U.N. estimates that at least 875 Palestinians have died while trying to access food in recent months
-
Australian woman found guilty of mushroom murdersspeed read Erin Patterson murdered three of her ex-husband's relatives by serving them toxic death cap mushrooms
-
Combs convicted on 2 of 5 charges, denied bailSpeed Read Sean 'Diddy' Combs was acquitted of the more serious charges of racketeering and sex trafficking
-
Sniper kills 2 Idaho firefighters in ambushSpeed Read A man started a wildfire, then fired a rifle at first responders when they arrived
-
Weinstein convicted of sex crime in retrialSpeed Read The New York jury delivered a mixed and partial verdict at the disgraced Hollywood producer's retrial
-
'King of the Hill' actor shot dead outside homespeed read Jonathan Joss was fatally shot by a neighbor who was 'yelling violent homophobic slurs,' says his husband
-
DOJ, Boulder police outline attacker's confessionspeed read Mohamed Sabry Soliman planned the attack for a year and 'wanted them all to die'
-
Assailant burns Jewish pedestrians in Boulderspeed read Eight people from the Jewish group were hospitalized after a man threw Molotov cocktails in a 'targeted act of violence'
-
Driver rams van into crowd at Liverpool FC paradespeed read 27 people were hospitalized following the attack
