PARKLAND, Fla. — Ahead of a reenactment of the deadly Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting in Parkland that killed 14 students and three staff members, a bipartisan group of lawmakers and victims' families toured the building where the shooting happened.
They called it a time capsule, a moment frozen in time. Families hope the experience will lead to more change and school safety legislation in Washington, D.C.
After the tour, the group gathered at a hotel in Parkland for a roundtable discussion about what they saw and what they can do to bring about change. It's the same hotel that families were brought to in the immediate aftermath of the shooting, where they learned whether their children survived the massacre.
The powerful walk through the 1200 building at Stoneman Douglas High School allowed lawmakers to walk through the pain of the families.
Stoneman Douglas graduate and U.S. Rep. Jared Moskowitz, D-Fla., organized the walkthrough after parent Max Schachter brought the idea to him. Max's son Alex was killed in the shooting.
Moskowitz noted Parkland was the safest city in the state of Florida, based on crime statistics, when the shooting happened.
"I know we can figure out a way to make sure other families don't become part of this exclusive club that these parents were involuntarily drafted into," he said.
Lori Alhadeff, whose daughter Alyssa was killed in the shooting, is now the chair of the Broward County School Board.
"It was a lot harder this time. It was very emotional. I couldn't get past room 1216 where Alyssa was murdered. It was extremely painful," Alhadeff said after walking through the building for the second time.
But she said after Friday she has hope that the lawmakers who went on this tour with her will feel compelled to work toward safety solutions in schools.
U.S. Rep. Nanette Diaz Barragán, D-Calif., spoke about some of the school hardening solutions they talked about during the roundtable discussion.
"What I heard today as nuts and bolts are things like investing, making sure we are giving money to schools for maybe bulletproof glass on the doors," she said.
Barragán also noted if something is mandated on the federal level, the government needs to provide the funding to help school districts carry out the plan.
"The reality is to do more we have to figure out where we agree," U.S. Rep. Mario Díaz-Balart, R-Fla. said
U.S. Rep. Jamaal Bowman, D-NY, was among the lawmakers on the tour.
"We are beginning a conversation, a bipartisan conversation, around a very specific issue," Bowman said. "We just had a shared experience that will transform our lives for the rest of our lives. To see the blood of children on the floor in a school together is going to change the way we interact and collaborate with each other going forward."
The lawmakers called this experience a major step in the right direction. They acknowledged that they know where they disagree on issues. Now, they need to figure out where they can agree and come together.
There was a lot of talk about bringing more members of Congress to Parkland to tour the building and really feel what these families have gone through. There were plans to soon demolish the building, but that might now be put on hold.
