Michelle Thackeray was scrolling through Facebook on Wednesday afternoon when she first heard about the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. At 3 p.m., she called her mom and brother to make sure they were safe.
Thackeray’s mom is a counselor who travels to schools around Broward County, and her brother is a volunteer mentor for the school’s entrepreneurship club. He was supposed to volunteer Thursday.
“I felt relief, but I still feel the same tension and the same pressure,” the 20-year-old said. “I haven’t been able to shake that feeling. I still feel the anxiety of fear for their lives.”
The UF materials science and engineering junior and Challenge Party engineering candidate said she wanted to hold an event to remember the victims. On Friday at about 12:30 p.m., Century Tower will ring 17 times to honor each victim, and grief counselors will be available on Turlington Plaza.
“We want students to know that we care about them, and we care about each other,” Thackeray said.
There will also be a vigil on Turlington Plaza from 8 p.m. to 11 p.m. Friday and another Saturday at 7:30 p.m. at Gainesville Town Hall, located at 200 E. University Ave. Both events are hosted by individuals, according to their Facebook events.
Michelle Stein, 21, said she was affected by the Pulse Nightclub shooting in her hometown and would pay her respects on Turlington Plaza during the event.
“It’s just another tragic shooting that happens too often,” the UF political science junior said. “It’s always a concern of mine because it does happen literally everywhere.”
Major Brad Barber, the University Police spokesperson, said students should become familiar with evacuation routes, stairwell locations and the functions of the doors if UF is in an active shooter situation and pay attention to UF Alerts, should an active shooter situation arise.
Barber said if there was a situation on campus, police would isolate the location instead of shutting down the entire campus.
“The University of Florida is a city within a city,” he said. “A lockdown is not something that will be easy to achieve, if achievable at all.”
The goal of the police department is to prevent an incident like this from happening, he said.
“The foundation of our approach to safety is a shared responsibility,” he said. “It does start with everyone working together to help resolve this manner before an incident begins.”
Contact Christina Morales at cmorales@alligator.org. Follow her on Twitter at @Christina_M18.
