Sunday marked three-year anniversary of Parkland school shooting

A Florida community remembered the 17 lives lost three years ago in the Parkland school shooting massacre.

Gov. Ron DeSantis ordered flags lowered to half staff from sunrise to sunset across the state to honour those killed when a former student of Marjory Stoneman Douglas opened fire on campus with an AR-15 rifle on Valentines Day in 2018.

When the gunfire ended, 14 students and three staff members were dead and 17 others were wounded.

The suspect, Nikolas Cruz, still awaits trial.

“In seconds, the lives of dozens of families, and the life of an American community, were changed forever,” said U.S. President Joe Biden in a statement released Sunday.

Biden used the occasion to call on Congress to strengthen gun laws, including requiring background checks on all gun sales and banning assault weapons.

There is no time to wait, Biden said adding, “we owe it to all those we’ve lost and to all those left behind to grieve to make a change.”