‘Please Take Action.’ Florida School Shooting Survivor Begs Lawmakers to Do More Than Talk

A student who survived Wednesday’s mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla is calling on lawmakers to take concrete action against gun violence.

David Hogg, a 17-year-old senior, gave an on-camera interview to CNN, calling the shooting that killed at least 17 people Wednesday an “atrocity.”

“Please take action. Ideas are great, ideas are wonderful and they help you get re-elected and everything, but what’s more important is actual action,” said Hogg when asked by CNN if he had a message for Congress. “Please, this is the 18th [shooting] this year — that’s unacceptable.”

“We’re children; you guys are the adults,” Hogg added. “You need to take some action and play a role. Work together, get over your politics and get something done.”

Hogg recalled hearing gunshots ring out during an Advanced Placement environmental science class, saying the students told their teacher, who shut the door. But after a fire alarm went off, the class immediately began evacuating — straight into the path of alleged gunman Nikolas Cruz.

Hogg credits a janitor with saving at least 40 students lives by instructing them to head to safety in a different direction, he explains in the interview, calling her actions “heroic.”

The class took shelter in a culinary classroom where Hogg, also a student reporter, interviewed his fellow students on his cell phone about their views on gun control.

Another student interviewed by CNN, freshman Kelsey Friend, also credited a school employee with saving her life, saying her geography teacher’s actions are the reason she survived the attack.

“I will never forget the actions that he took for me and for fellow students in the classroom,” Friend told CNN. “And if his family is watching, please know that your son or your brother was an amazing person and I am alive today because of him.”