February 14, 2020 Blog

Parkland, Two Years Later

Two years ago today, my daughter Carmen was gunned down at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. She was shot four times as she tried to hide in her AP Psychology class. She was just 16 years old.

Carmen was beautiful, caring, funny, brilliant, and musically talented. She was the kind of daughter a mom can’t help but be proud of.

She had big dreams—dreams of going to prom, becoming a medical researcher, and having a family of her own. But on February 14, 2018, a former student armed with an AR-15 and high-capacity magazines ended Carmen’s dreams.

He killed 17 students and staff and wound 17 more in just seconds. A few seconds is all it took to change our lives forever.

No family should have to experience the pain of losing a loved one to a senseless act of gun violence.

That is why I am committed to fighting for common sense gun violence prevention measures. And that is why I am proud to work with the Alliance for Gun Responsibility. Together, we are fighting for policies that will close deadly loopholes, keep guns out of dangerous hands, and protect our kids from gun violence.

No policy will bring Carmen back, but there is more that we can and must do to prevent other families from experiencing what mine did.

Please join me today, in honoring Carmen and the 16 other lives stolen two years ago, with action.


–April Schentrup is Carmen’s mother and an Alliance board member.