A week after the shooting that shook (once again), everybody’s minds and hearts, I am still gathering my thoughts and reactions about it. I am talking about the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting, on the afternoon of February 14th.
I spent that morning of Valentine’s Day giving away flowers and snacks to listeners of 107.5 Amor, the radio station I work for. I was very excited about this event for Valentine’s Day because even though, it is a very commercial date, people is more willing to show love to each other. Every listener that stopped by our regular stop (Sunset Dr. and 107th Ave) left happy with a rose and something to eat. I felt so alive, meeting the listeners, hearing their voices, taking selfies together, it was very rewarding.
In the afternoon, I was back in the office hearing and reading what my ears and eyes couldn’t believe: another massive shooting, at a school, several dead, many injured AND it was 37 miles from where I live, around a 40 minute-drive. Oh my God, so close.
That night was one of my best friend’s wedding; however, it felt so wrong to be all jolly, celebrating and partying when this tragedy happened a few hours before. But, she and her groom didn’t deserve a bad vibe on their wedding day. We went to the wedding, but we didn’t stay for too long. Yes, I am a horrible friend.
The reason why we left the party early was because I got a call from work to cover the shooting the following morning. I had to get up at 5:00AM, so I calculated in my mind 7 hours of sleep, I took into account the distance we were from home and the time it takes me to prepare myself to go to bed. We left the party at 10:30PM. Even though, I had made my calculations, I couldn’t sleep that night. I was nervous, anxious and excited.
Why was I excited? Because for the first time in my life, after graduating from college, after working for over 5 years in the media industry, I was going to cover a real story, something worthy of people’s time, something that mattered. However, the circumstance was bad, sad and wrong. My nerves and anxiety were about the victims and about the people that I had to interview. I wanted to show empathy and make them feel loved, but I needed to be firm and shameless to get those interviews.
When we arrived to the press area by the school, there was no one to talk to. I felt horrible and insecure, this was my first time doing this kind of reporting, I didn’t have a mentor or someone to look up to, it was me and the driver/camera man. I had to make it work, so I prayed, I prayed and prayed and asked God to help me to do this job right. I prayed to say the right words, to not be shameful, and to be nice. I was scared and intimidated by the other reporters with their crews and equipment, they looked so pro and like they knew what to do. I only had my phone to connect with the studio and another phone for pictures and video.
Out of nowhere, a group of men approached one of the tents set up by the networks. I looked at them and realized that it was Governor Rick Scott. “OH MY GOD, the governor is here, how do I get an interview? I need to get an interview with him” – That’s what I said to myself. I moved to the tent and tried to identify his crew to ask for an interview. My heart was pounding, I might have been shaking, and I felt a knot in my throat. I took a breath, and prayed again. Here I go.
I asked a man in a suit if he was with the governor because I would like to get an interview for Univision, he pointed me to another guy, and that guy pointed me to another guy who took my phone number. I explained to him that the interview would be through my phone, and that I could translate if possible. He said the governor could speak in Spanish, so no problem. I waited and waited, followed them around, other reporters came close. One reporter asked me about how to interview the governor, and I pointed at the guy who was booking the interviews. I heard it was my turn after María Eugenia Payá (she works for Univision too, but for TV). So I called the studio, they put me in hold. As the governor finished with Payá, in fractions of seconds I saw how other reporters tried to get in my way with their microphones, so I spoke up, I greeted the governor and told him he was going to talk to Javier Romero from El Desayuno at 107.5 Amor, Univision Radio and handed him my phone.
Governor Scott started talking to Javier, and I couldn’t get out of my excitement, “YES, I got the guys at the studio an interview with the governor, this is great” – Soon after, my excitement was interrupted by the “interviews-booking” guy and another girl in the governor’s staff who kept telling me: “we didn’t agree to this” – I am assuming that they didn’t like the fact that the governor was on the phone with Javier Romero in the studio. I let the governor talk to Javier, even though his staff kept saying the same thing about “not agreeing to this”. At one point, I asked the girl on the governor’s staff: “do you want me to grab the phone out of his hand as he is speaking?” – She said yes. At that moment I ignored her.
The governor finished the interview, I thanked him and walked away from that crowd. The guys at the studio were very pleased for that interview because they got the governor’s input about the shooting. I felt like, “O.K. I’m good to go, I got a great interview” – but I stayed because I wanted to see and hear about somebody from the school, somebody who went through that awful event. I have to admit that the next interviews were easier to get for two reasons. One, I had the toughest one first and I felt I could conquer anything in the world. And two, the people from the school were easier to approach and to talk to, no security, no agents involved.
One school teacher was in the area willing to talk to the press, her name is Sarah Lerner, she teaches English and Journalism. She was so nice to talk to the guys at 107.5 Amor and Mix 98, both Univision Radio stations. She was in class in a building close to the on of the shooting, and she said that she locked herself with her students for almost 3 hours until the police came in to let them out. In the classroom, they got the news of what was going on through social media. I learned she speaks a little Spanish because her mother is from Spain.
We were able to talk to a freshman student from the school, Brandon Carrasco and his father Orlando Carrasco. Mr. Carrasco told us about the uncertainty he felt because his son, Brandon didn’t take his phone to school that day. Brandon called his father from a classmate’s phone to inform him of what was going on. According to Mr. Carrasco, he didn’t hear back from Brandon for 3 hours. He went to the school to get him, he waited there for a while and later he was sent to a hotel nearby to pick him up. He saw Brandon getting out of one of the buses as he arrived to the hotel, and he stopped right there to grab him and hug him. The night after the shooting, Brandon asked his parents to sleep all together, and kept asking his Dad to lock and make sure the doors where locked.
Brandon spoke to us for a minute, he was still shocked about what he witnessed at his school, but he remained calmed and helped his classmates to stay calm and hopeful in the middle of that mess.
I admire, respect and appreciate all the survivors of this shooting that shouldn’t have happened. I thank all of the ones who gathered strength to talk to the press, to be interviewed and recorded. My deepest condolences to the families who lost a relative, a daughter, son, father, husband, boyfriend, girlfriend, all of you are in my prayers. My wish is that this tragedy helps to shape and improve our laws, at a state and federal level. I also hope that we start to really love and comprehend each other, instead of pushing away those we consider weird, violent, stupid, etc, we should try to show kindness and respect. And, if we can’t be the ones to help out, at least speak up, and help them get the help they need.
Hello, I am Vanessa Brito 
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