In 2018, Stephanie Horowitz was a 15-year-old freshman at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. Seven years later, Horowitz is a graduate student and instructor at Florida State University in Tallahassee, Florida.
On February 14, 2018, and on April 17, 2025, Horowitz experienced gun violence in a place she once felt safe: school.
Horowitz shared her experience with CBS News's CBS Mornings on Friday.
Horowitz told CBS about seeing unattended laptops left open on tables and backpacks abandoned on the floor:
"Unfortunately, due to my previous experience, I knew what that meant, and before I knew exactly what was going on, I just started to direct everybody into the back room to safety until I got further information, but I had a feeling that it was an active shooter situation before I even heard."
"We were lucky that some of my students looked out of the glass doors and saw everybody running."
Loud music prevented Horowitz and her students from hearing the shooting taking place nearby.
Horowitz added:
"I never thought it would happen to me the first time, and here we are, and unfortunately, this is America for you."
The FSU student and instructor told CBS about the immediate aftermath of the 2018 Parkland school shooting:
"I kind of woke up every morning thinking that it could be my last day. I was afraid for my life every step that I took."
But Horowitz added she had finally gotten to a place where she felt safe again—until Thursday.
"And here we are yet again and that was taken away from me for a second time."
While none disputed Horowitz's statement that mass shootings are very American, people wanted that to change.
Kids who went through the Parkland shooting in high school are now students at FSU and I can't even imagine what that feels like for them.
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— Rebekah Jones (@georebekah.bsky.social) April 17, 2025 at 3:48 PM
It’s horrific that there are students who lived through Parkland and are now going through a second school shooting at FSU. The government has failed our children. It doesn’t have to be this way.
— Elizabeth Warren ( @warren.senate.gov) April 17, 2025 at 4:16 PM
Just saw the clip of a Parkland shooting survivor describing experiencing a second school shooting before finishing college at FSU. This country is a hellhole.
— Łink. (@link.spacelawshitpost.me) April 18, 2025 at 11:42 PM
While an active shooter terrorized the FSU campus, mere miles away, the Florida legislature debated rolling back post-Parkland gun restrictions. And DeSantis sent his usual thoughts and prayers, so that was a big, big help. Got that, everyone?
— Susan Kelley (@sekelley.bsky.social) April 17, 2025 at 1:40 PM
Some of the students who survived the Parkland shooting are now at FSU, where they just faced another school shooting. These students should be looking forward to graduation, not reliving the same trauma. It’s past time for our elected leaders to take real action on gun violence prevention.
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— Red Wine & Blue (@redwineblueusa.bsky.social) April 18, 2025 at 12:00 PM
In 2018, 17 people were murdered and 18 injured in Parkland by a lone gunman; in 2025, two people were killed and six injured.
According to 2025 data from the Gun Violence Archive, Thursday's mass shooting was the sixth in Florida and the 81st in the United States in under four months.
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