The Oracle
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She thought her brother could be gone On Wednesday, Emily Blank, a current USF student, had her world turned upside down with over 300 texts saying her brother’s high school was under attack by an active shooter. By Josh Fiallo S P O R T S
Former students of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School mourn at a candlelit vigil held in the MLK Plaza to honor 17 victims of a shooting at their former school in Parkland, Florida. ORALE PHOTO/JOSH FIALLO
E D I T O R
It was Valentine’s day. After attending her sociology class at USF from 11 a.m to 12:15 p.m., Emily Blank went back to her room to relax and take a shower. She was preparing to go out with her friends to Acropolis for dinner later that night. When she got out of the shower and checked her phone, however, a day of love quickly turned to that of terror. Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, which Emily graduated from in 2016, was under attack by an active shooter. Her 17-year-old younger brother, Johnathan Blank, was in class at the Parkland, Florida high school of over 3,000 students at the same time. Her heart sank immediately. “I got in the shower around 2:25 (p.m.),” Emily said. “I got out of the shower to 336 text messages all saying, ‘There’s been a shooting at Douglas.’” To find out about her brother, Emily called her dad first. When he picked up, his answer made her fears all the worse. “My dad said, ‘Johnathan was in one of the classrooms (that was shot into). I can’t talk right now,’” Emily said. Without elaboration, he then hung up. Emily’s mother, a teacher at a middle school right next to Marjory Stoneman Douglas, was under lockdown
herself and couldn’t speak to Emily on the phone. Three and a half hours away from home, with nobody to provide her with answers, Emily recalled being an emotional mess. She said she screamed into her phone while searching for a news channel at her Sigma Delta Tau sorority house. Her sorority sisters comforted her, but they couldn’t understand her pain. This was more than just another American massshooting to Emily. This was Parkland. This was Douglas. This was family. After what felt like hours, around 3:15 p.m., Emily’s phone rang. The voice on the other end of the line was her brother, alive and physically injuryfree. He explained to his sister that he went straight to the ground whenever the sound of gunshots began to ring-out, leaving his phone on top of his desk, which is why he didn’t call to say he was OK sooner. He didn’t want to risk getting up to grab it. He also told his sister that the gunshots were the loudest thing he’d ever heard. “It was the scariest moment of my life,” Johnathon told CBS Miami. “I’m with my family and friends now. I tell them that I love them all of the time. You just don’t know when your last time with them is.”
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