Students return to Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School for first classes since shooting

Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.
(Image credit: RHONA WISE/AFP/Getty Images)

Students return to classes on Wednesday at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School for the first time since a gunman killed 17 students and teachers at the Parkland, Florida, school. There was a heavy police presence on the campus ahead of the opening bell. "Students will return to the Parkland campus at 7:40 a.m. to find police officers with heavier artillery and teachers with open arms," the Sun Sentinel reported.

"I have to go back to school... look at empty desks. Try my hardest to feel safe," tweeted Conor Dietrich, a junior who was among survivors who lobbied Florida lawmakers for tougher gun control. "And worst of all try not to think about all the people I miss. This is going to be the hardest part by far."

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Harold Maass, The Week US

Harold Maass is a contributing editor at The Week. He has been writing for The Week since the 2001 debut of the U.S. print edition and served as editor of TheWeek.com when it launched in 2008. Harold started his career as a newspaper reporter in South Florida and Haiti. He has previously worked for a variety of news outlets, including The Miami Herald, ABC News and Fox News, and for several years wrote a daily roundup of financial news for The Week and Yahoo Finance.