Hero Jewish Teacher Killed As He Shielded Students In Florida School Shooting
Scott Beigel died trying to shield his students from the shooting rampage at a Florida high school.
The Jewish social sciences teacher herded some terrified students into a classroom at Stoneman Douglas High School. He was trying to lock the door when suspected gunman Nikolas Cruz opened fire, killing him on the spot.
“Unfortunately, I had to watch him lying there lifeless in the doorway,” Kelsey Friend told a local TV station.
Friend said Beigel was trying to save her and the other students in the classroom when he was gunned down.
“We were all in the classroom with the door wide open,” Friend said.
She said without Beigel’s actions, the gunman could’ve killed her and others.
“I probably wouldn’t be with my mom … or see my sister again,” Friend said.
Beigel was also a staff member at Camp Starlight, a predominately Jewish summer camp in Starlight, Pennsylvania. In a Facebook post, the camp called him a “beloved friend and hero.”
“Those kids were incredibly lucky to have you, you are a real hero,” Adam Schwartz, a Starlight camper, wrote in a post.
A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.
We’ve set a goal to raise $260,000 by December 31. That’s an ambitious goal, but one that will give us the resources we need to invest in the high quality news, opinion, analysis and cultural coverage that isn’t available anywhere else.
If you feel inspired to make an impact, now is the time to give something back. Join us as a member at your most generous level.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO