Skip To Content
JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
Fast Forward

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.

Image by facebook

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.

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.

Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.

At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and the protests on college campuses.

Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.

Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly. 

— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.

Republish This Story

Please read before republishing

We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines. You must credit the Forward, retain our pixel and preserve our canonical link in Google search.  See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.

To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at editorial@forward.com, subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.

We don't support Internet Explorer

Please use Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge to view this site.

Exit mobile version