WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — Inside Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, five minutes of sheer terror changed the city of Parkland, the state of Florida and this nation forever.
"It's the deadliest school shooting that has ever happened in this country," WPTV legal analyst Michelle Suskauer said.
When it was over, 17 lives were remembered, honored and memorialized.
"Sentencing is not the end of this case," former prosecutor Doug Rudman said. "This case is going to live in the hearts and minds of everyone in South Florida, if not the nation, because of how gruesome it was and how many of our children were lost as a result of this act."
Their deaths sparked local and national outrage. Almost immediately, a movement took shape.
"You saw the survivors of this tragedy come together as a community and really lead the rallying cry for change, and they would not take no for an answer," Suskauer said.
Hundreds who lived through that horrific day used the memory of victims to fight for change. And they were quickly heard.
"They've created a whole new generation of advocates and, through their peaceful protests, through their statements, through their speeches, they have literally told the lawmakers, 'We're not gonna sit by and remain silent,'" Rudman said.
Missteps and miscommunication ran untethered in the aftermath. Broward County's sheriff and school superintendent lost their jobs. The school's resource deputy resigned under scrutiny and now awaits trial on charges of negligence and child neglect. Every day since, what happened in Parkland serves as a road map centered around Nikolas Cruz, with signs along the way showing how this tragedy could have been prevented.
"There were so many red flags, which we hope, moving forward, will make some significant change that these things won't happen again," Suskauer said.
Laws changed within months. Those voices from survivors carried an echo that went well beyond Parkland.
"We saw laws that were passed that, before this tragedy, would never have even seen the House floor in the state of Florida," Rudman said.
The most polarizing of them all, gun violence again became an all-too-familiar topic that raged through the halls of Congress and government. Another school, another tragedy and another lesson learned.
"At the end of the day, we learn more from our failures than we do from our successes," Rudman said. "As Michelle pointed out, there were a lot of failures on this case. The only failure that goes forward is if we don't learn from it."
