'You Killed My Kid!' Father of Shooting Victim Yells

Meadow Pollack, Alyssa Alhadeff were buried Friday
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Feb 17, 2018 5:00 AM CST
'You Killed My Kid!' Father of Shooting Victim Yells
Family and friends console each other as they arrive for the funeral of Meadow Pollack, a victim of the Wednesday shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, in Parkland, Fla., Friday, Feb. 16, 2018.   (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

A father's grief and anger boiled over Friday as the first victims of the Florida high school massacre were buried. With more than 1,000 mourners including Gov. Rick Scott packed into Temple K'ol Tikvah, Andrew Pollack looked down at the plain pine coffin of his 18-year-old daughter, Meadow, and then told the crowd, "I am very angry and upset about what transpired. ... You killed my kid!" he yelled, referring to Nikolas Cruz, who is accused of gunning down Meadow Pollack, 13 other Marjory Stoneman Douglas students, the athletic director, a coach, and a geography teacher on Wednesday. "This piece of s--- killed my kid, and I couldn"t do anything about it. That's never happened to me in my life. I'm always able to protect my family in any situation," he said, per the Sun Sentinel.

"My kid is dead. ... This is just unimaginable that I will never see my princess again." Mourners, punched by the rawness of his words, began to wail. Pollack had been planning to attend Lynn University in Boca Raton. Her funeral came shortly after the first service for a victim, 14-year-old Alyssa Alhadeff. About 1,000 people crowded the Star of David chapel, its foyer and stood 15-deep outside. Those outside stood respectfully, straining to hear the anonymous voices chanting Jewish prayers and remembering the star soccer player as having "the strongest personality." A male voice told the mourners, "I ask you to live your life in full for Alyssa. Be strong for Alyssa. Be kind for Alyssa." The girls were buried hours apart at Star of David Cemetery, reports the AP.

(More Florida school shooting stories.)

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