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Geography teacher dies a hero during school massacre

Scott Beigel put himself between the shooter and his students

PARKLAND, Fla. – Scott Beigel died a hero. The Marjory Stoneman Douglas geography teacher's classroom was locked when a gunman was shooting Wednesday. He was 35.

There were students running for safety, so he decided to open the door and let them inside. Kelsey Friend said she was among the students whose lives he saved.

"I am so thankful that he was there to help everybody, who did live in that classroom, because he was in the doorway and the door was still open and the shooter probably didn't know we were in there," she said Thursday. 

Friend described him as a "really amazing teacher." Beigel was also the school's cross country coach and was a counselor at Camp Starlight in Pennsylvania. 

"Mr. Biegel was my hero and he still will forever be my hero," said Kelsey Friend, one of the survivors Biegel saved. "I will never forget the actions that he took for me and for fellow students in the classroom. I am alive today because of him."

Biegel was engaged to marry Gwen Gossler. 


About the Author
Andrea Torres headshot

The Emmy Award-winning journalist joined the Local 10 News team in 2013. She wrote for the Miami Herald for more than 9 years and won a Green Eyeshade Award.

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