ORLANDO, Fla. — Emotions ran high while many gathered in Orlando to show their support for the victims of the Parkland school shooting.
The Florida PTA held candlelight vigils statewide Monday night, unified by the hashtag “No More,” calling for action to make sure a mass shooting like this never happens again.
In Orlando, demonstrators organized in front of the Orange County Public Schools administration building downtown.
“Our children are not statistics,” said Melissa Miller, president of the Orange County PTA.
One by one, the names of all 17 victims killed in Wednesday’s mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School were read out loud.
Christine Callahan said her son turned 17 on the day of the shooting.
"To have to say here's what you do if someone comes to school with a gun. I just hate to have to have that conversation,” she said.
“I couldn’t believe it. Never in a million years thought something like this would happen to our school,” said Adam Scarbrough, a Douglas graduate.
Scarbrough now lives in Orlando, but graduated from Stoneman Douglas in 2004. He said he knew coach Aaron Feiss, who investigators said was killed protecting students during the shooting.
"He was definitely a good man. He deserves to be honored for what he did,” Scarbrough said.
The Orlando vigil was one of a dozen held throughout the state.
"We send our babies off for an education and they come back with an experience that we as adults couldn't even begin to stomach,” said Miller.