On Wednesday February 14, an armed man arrived at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida where he proceeded to open fire on students and staff in the hallways and inside five classrooms on the first and second floors of the building. The gunman, later identified as 19-year-old Nikolas Cruz was armed with a semi-automatic AR-15 assault rifle and numerous box magazines.

Cruz currently faces 17 counts of premeditated murder, one for each person killed, and is being held without bond at Broward County Jail. This mass shooting resulted in 17 deaths and 15 injuries, designating it as one of the world’s deadliest school massacres in history.

Sophomore Matthew Shea was horrified to hear that his cousin, who attends Douglas High School, had been in the school during the shooting.

“I was in complete shock. It was so scary watching the news and knowing that my cousin was trapped in that school with the shooter on the loose. I had no clue if she was going to make it out or not,” Shea said. Shea’s cousin made it out of the school unharmed.

Students all over the country have begun to take initiative in the fight for their safety. On Saturday March 24, the “March For Our Lives” will be held in the streets of Washington, D.C. to demand that student’s safety become a priority to end gun violence in schools today.

“[Shootings] truly can happen anywhere. The fact that it happened at my cousin’s school of all schools just proves that,” Shea said.

WJ administration has responded to the recent school shootings. On Thursday February 15, Principal Jennifer Baker announced to all students to remind them not to open doors for anyone and that they play a key role in safety protocols.

However, most students are still not realizing the importance of Baker’s message and continue to open doors for fellow students when they should remain locked.

“Let’s say it’s a student who you’ve seen in the hallways before and unknown to you there have been issues with everything and that kid has been expelled. But in one morning in a rush they’re banging on the door to let them in… let’s say you let them in and it turns out that they’re up to no good. Do you see, from our perspective, how there’s got to be a way to convey that message without scaring everybody out of their boots?” Security Team Leader Howard Beaubien said.

Despite WJ being in a relatively safe community with a large staff and skilled security team, some students can’t help but feel concern for their safety with recent events.

“I do not think WJ is safe because there has been no new improvements [made in security plans] and they should make new improvements if they want the community to feel safe,” senior Zoe Bournas said.

Though no immediate plans regarding safety are taking place, Baker sent an email to the staff letting everyone know of the further courses of action to ensure the safety of all staff and students at WJ.

“Officer Jackson is here Monday through Thursday and in touch with her fellow officers as to what is happening around our school and in the area surrounding us. We are meeting today to discuss what happened and review our procedures. I also know that MCPS security staff and top officials are talking about county protocols and I imagine they will be meeting about this incident and, as needed, will advise schools on any new procedures,” Baker said.

Devising and implementing safety plans is a long process but in the meantime students and staff should remember to keep the doors locked, report anything that seems suspicious and to not hesitate to reach out to the staff.

“In the wake of the terrible tragedy that occurred at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Florida I wanted to let everyone know that our safety and security here at Walter Johnson HS is my top priority,” Baker said in an email to staff.