Demolition of the Parkland classroom building where 17 died in 2018 shooting begins

By TERRY SPENCER
Associated Press

PARKLAND, Fla. (AP) — A large excavator stretched up and punched out a window on the top floor of a three-story classroom building where 17 people died in the 2018 mass shooting at Parkland, Florida’s, Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School as a long-awaited demolition got underway. About 100 yards away, some victims’ family members watched, and took photos and videos Friday morning. Officials plan to complete the weekslong project before the school’s 3,300 students return in August from summer vacation. Most were in elementary school when the shooting happened. The building had been kept up to serve as evidence at the shooter’s 2022 penalty trial. Jurors toured its bullet-pocked and blood-stained halls, but spared him a death sentence. He’s serving a term of life without parole.