Father of Parkland victim reveals son was at beach day of Hollywood beach shooting

Shooting at Hollywood Beach Broadwalk is one of 265 so far this year

A father whose daughter was murdered in the Parkland school shooting revealed that his son was at the Hollywood Beach Broadwalk just hours before a mass shooting occurred on Monday.

Fred Guttenberg, a gun safety advocate, tweeted on Tuesday (30 May) that his son, Jesse, was at the beach where the shooting injured nine people.

“This shooting happened yesterday in FL,” Mr Guttenberg tweeted with a link to an article about the shooting. “My son was on this beach earlier that day.”

He added that his son’s friend works at a restaurant at the Hollywood Broadwalk.

Mr Guttenberg’s 14-year-old daughter Jaime Guttenberg was one of the 17 victims of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting in 2018.

Since Jaime was killed in the shooting, Mr Guttenberg has become a strong advocate for gun safety, speaking in front of the US Senate and meeting with lawmakers to encourage them to strengthen gun control policies.

“While FL bans books and drag shows, threats to our life and liberty continue,” Mr Guttenberg wrote.

The Hollywood beach shooting left nine people injured, including four children ranging from one to 17 years old.

According to police, the shooting erupted just before 7pm local time on Memorial Day after a dispute between two groups escalated.

The mayor of Hollywood, Florida, called the gunfire “reckless”.

Many people took to social media to blame Florida lawmakers like Governor Ron DeSantis for failing to act on gun control.

Mr DeSantis signed a bill in April that will allow Florida residents to carry firearms without a permit, loosening concealed carry restrictions.

Though the bill does not go into effect until 1 July, Mr Guttenberg still indicated that firearms and a lack of gun control were to blame for the shooting – despite many gun activists disputing this.

“Stop listening to the liars!” Mr Guttenberg wrote.

On Twitter, several people responded to Mr Guttenberg.

“This must have been gut-wrenching, Fred, with your son being close to another shooting. I truly hope you and your family will find peace. I could not live with this rampant ‘guns over lives’. This is an anathema for Australians [sic],” a Twitter user wrote.

“To lose one child in a shooting and then have another at the site of one? I would lose my everloving mind,” another tweeted.

The Hollywood Beach Broadwalk shooting is one of over 260 to occur in the US this year, according to Gun Violence Archive.