Second Parkland shooting survivor dies in suicide, cops confirm

A week after the suicide of a former student, a Marjory Stoneman High School student has taken his life, Coral Springs police confirmed Sunday.

The news of the double tragedy comes just as students are out of school this week for spring break.

Investigators told the Miami Herald that the male student died in “an apparent suicide” on Saturday night. He was a sophomore and attended Stoneman Douglas last year at the time of the Feb. 14 shooting that claimed 17 lives on campus.

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It isn’t known whether his death can be linked to the school shooting, police said. They did not release his name.

How many more kids have to be taken from us as a result of suicide for the government / school district to do anything?

Rip 17+2 — David Hogg (@davidhogg111) March 24, 2019

The death follows the suicide of a recent Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School graduate, Sydney Aiello, who took her life after being diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. The Broward County Medical Examiner’s Office told NBC News that Aiello died from a gunshot wound to the head.

“How many more kids have to be taken from us as a result of suicide for the government / school district to do anything? Rip 17 + 2,” former Stoneman Douglas student and gun-control activist David Hogg said Sunday on Twitter.

If you are in crisis, please call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255), or contact the Crisis Text Line by texting TALK to 741741.

Ryan Petty, father of Alaina Petty, a 14-year-old freshman who was one of 17 people murdered on Feb. 14. 2018, told the Miami Herald the student who died Saturday also died from a gunshot wound to the head.

Petty founded a suicide prevention foundation called the Walk Up Foundation after his daughter’s death. He said “the issue of suicide needs to be talked about.”

“This is another tragic example,” Petty said, who has partnered with Columbia University for his Foundation.

Since the Valentine’s Day shooting that killed 17 and traumatized an entire student body, students at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School regularly report to trauma counselors after breaking down in tears. They panic when fire alarms drag on even moments too long. Reports of widespread absences are common.

But with news emerging of two suicides in the past week involving a sophomore boy and a recent graduate, just as students leave campus for spring break, faculty at the Parkland school worry that their students may not be receiving the help they need away from campus. They also are concerned that recent changes at the school may be negatively affecting kids.

Grief therapists working with Parkland families are mobilizing on Sunday to figure out the best way to provide help. They also are concerned that students will be off this week.

“I’m afraid there will be more [suicides] to come,” said Greg Pittman, an American History teacher at MSD. “I’m just kind of concerned that they’re away from their support to a degree.”

He said the reassignment of the high school’s three assistant principals and a security specialist, administrators who were with the school during the mass shooting, has affected the mental health of the students who need help the most.

“The kids need help and many of them that do need help are not getting any,” Pittman said Sunday. “They want to talk to people that were there.”

Pittman, who taught Sydney Aiello, said he has spoken with students directly about their concerns over the changing structure of their school. He said more mental health resources may be needed.

“Many of them think that they don’t need help,” he said. “That only their friends who were there understand. More resources probably would help, but also the resources that knew them [are] leaving.”

During a meeting Friday between the district and the faculty, Pittman said Broward Chief Officer of School Performance and Accountability Valerie Wanza acknowledged it was a mistake to remove the administrators students had grown accustomed to seeing.

“I thought it was a mistake then and even more so now,” he said.

He said his students are under “tremendous pressure,” some having seen their friends die or seeing their bodies on the floor after the shooting.

Pittman, who was at the school during the shooting, regularly sees a therapist and takes medication for emotional distress.

“I didn’t witness it, but many of these kids had to witness their friends dying,” he said. “What they have seen, I’m concerned we’re gonna see more.”

On Twitter Sunday, Ryan Petty posted “17 + 2” with a breaking heart emoji, a somber reminder of the growing tally of the massacre.

“I’m afraid that Sydney did it, and now this other kid has done it...” Pittman said. “I don’t know how long it will take but we need more help.”

This article will be updated as more information becomes available.