Survivor’s Mother Wishes for Increased Training Through Reenactment

• Officials are reenacting the devastating Parkland high school shooting of 2018 as part of a civil lawsuit.
• Despite her initial reservations, one survivor’s mother hopes that the reenactment will spark positive change.
• Many believe that the reenactment is necessary to prevent future tragedies.

In an effort to seek justice, a reenactment of the tragic Parkland, Florida, shooting that occurred on August 4, 2018, is taking place as part of a civil lawsuit. Vicki Amodio, the mother of a survivor who could hear the “eerie” gunshots from her home, expresses her hope that this reenactment will lead to better training for school resource officers.

Amodio, whose son survived the shooting that claimed the lives of 17 individuals, tells Insider that she initially opposed the reenactment. Nevertheless, she acknowledges that the only positive outcome of this event would be the demonstration of the urgent need for increased training among school resource officers.

While Amodio has her reservations, she believes that the parents and the community should not have had to relive this tragedy. The reenactment, involving the discharge of at least 140 live rounds, is part of a civil lawsuit against Scot Peterson, the former school resource officer on duty during the shooting.

Peterson, who served as a Broward County sheriff’s deputy, was acquitted of charges of child neglect and culpable negligence in June. Prosecutors argued that he neglected his training and failed to confront the active shooter for 48 minutes. Peterson, on the other hand, claimed that he couldn’t hear all the gunshots and couldn’t discern their origin, as reported by CNN.

In the ongoing civil suit, the families of the victims aim to prove that Peterson did indeed hear over 70 gunshots and could identify their source, as reported by CNN. However, the community is divided on whether this reenactment should take place.

Amodio, who lives across the street from Marjory Stoneman Douglas School, where the shooting took place, vividly recounts the haunting echoes of the shots fired during the reenactment. She questions why the parents are still seeking this painful experience after more than five years, urging them to find closure and move forward.

Max Schachter, whose 14-year-old son lost his life in the shooting, expresses hope that the reenactment will help the jury understand the implausibility of the school resource deputy having heard only a few shots when 70 rang out in the building, according to CNN.

If no changes occur and this tragedy fails to serve as a lesson to educate and prevent future incidents, then all efforts would have been in vain, Schachter added. As a result of the reenactment, the building in which the shooting occurred, among several others on the campus, is scheduled for demolition. Amodio envisions its transformation into a park for students.