PARKLAND, Fla. – This week will mark two years since 17 lives were lost during the massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland.
President Donald Trump met with several families of the victims on Monday to discuss school safety and debut a new government website dedicated to keeping students and educators safe.
The site is a new resource for educators, parents, and students who are seeking information about staying safe in schools.
Lori Alhadeff, whose 14-year-old daughter Alyssa died in the shooting, attended the meeting and spoke to Local 10 News’ Washington D.C. bureau chief Ross Palombo afterwards.
“The president is helping,” Alhadeff said. “They just launched a website to house all the school safety resources.”
Some of the families of Parkland victims were left out of Monday's meeting, not receiving invitations to come to the White House.
Manny Oliver, who lost his 17-year-old son Joaquin in the Parkland massacre, spoke about not being included in the White House meeting with Trump and other families who lost loved ones in the shooting.
“I had no idea,” Oliver said. “And I’m assuming that whatever is going on inside that office is not even talking about guns.”
Oliver was not the only one left out.
So was Fred Guttenberg, who lost his 14-year-old daughter Jaime. He tweeted:
“I guess it is not all of the families as I only learned of this today through a reporter. My family and I were NOT invited.”
Oliver says he is skeptical as to whether the meeting will find any solutions or discuss gun control.
“I respect them, all of them, they have their right to be there and they have the ear of the President,” he said. “I would love to get a call that says ‘hey, Manny, you know what we did talk about guns and we will have some regulations moving forward.’”