Second Parkland Shooting Survivor Dies by Suicide: Report

A second survivor of the Parkland school shooting has died in what police are calling an apparent suicide, officials said Sunday.

The identity of the student has not been released but Coral Springs Police Department Public Information Officer Tyler Reik said the deceased was a Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School student, NBC News reported.

News of the teenager's death comes days after 19-year-old Sydney Aiello was laid to rest. Aiello – a graduate of the school who also survived the shooting – died by suicide last weekend.

Ryan Petty, whose daughter Alaina died in the school attack, started the Walkup Foundation to raise awareness of mental health issues both to prevent mass shootings and to help those suffering after they occur.

"It’s devastating, it was hard enough to lose the 17 and to think that more people are suffering to the point where they feel like they need to take their own life, it’s heartbreaking," Petty said of Aiello's death.

The American Psychological Association states that survivors of mass shootings have improved long-term outcomes when helped by the community and by having access to mental health support.

"As a community psychologist, I've seen firsthand the importance of mental health promotion efforts that have nothing to do with counseling per se, but that help the community heal together," University of California, Santa Barbara, assistant psychology professor Erika Felix, who led a study on the subject of mass shooting survivors, wrote in a statement.

Parkland Mayor Christine Hunschofsky is urging her community to visit the Broward County Resiliency Center if help related to mental health is needed. Located at Pine Trails Park at 10561 Trails End in Parkland and open from noon until 7 p.m. on weekdays and 5 p.m. on weekends, the center offers grief counseling, community resources referrals and specialized groups.

If you are in crisis, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 800-273-8255 or reach out to the Crisis Text Line by texting 'Home' to 741741. Other helpful organizations: The Columbia Lighthouse Project and Children's Services Council of Broward.

Photo Credit: Getty Images
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