Freshman high school student Peter Wang died as he held the door open for his classmates to escape during the Florida school shooting.
Sun Sentinel reports that 15 year old Peter Wang was a freshman at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School who died holding the door to let other students escape.
He was one of 17 people including 14 students who were shot dead by former pupil Nikolas Cruz at Marjory Stoneman Douglas School. It was the deadliest US school shooting since 2012.
Lin Chen, Wang’s 24 year old cousin, described the Brooklyn born student as “funny, caring and selfless”.
After hearing of Wang’s final moments of bravery, Chen said she was not surprised he acted in such a way
“He is so brave,” she said. “He is the person who is genuinely kind to everyone. He doesn’t care about popularity. He always liked to cheer people up. He is like the big brother everyone wished they had”.
Wang leaves behind two younger brothers aged 11 and 5, and his parents who own a restaurant in West Palm Beach.
Chen said the family were due to celebrate Chinese New Year’s eve together.
“I feel the family can never be the same,” said Chen.
Barbara Sharpe, principal of PenTab Academy in Miami Gardens, said Wang was a “sweet loving child”.Wang had attended her pre school a decade ago.
“He was loving and kind, very eager to learn.” She added. “His parents were very supportive and involved in his education,” Sharpe added. “We still have pictures of him at our school. Our heart is hurting. We were devastated when we saw the name.”
Aaron Chen, another cousin of Wang’s, said, “he wasn’t supposed to die. He was supposed to grow old with me. Please share his story.”
Gabriel Ammirata, Peter’s best friend, described him as “funny, nice and a great friend. He’s been my best friend since third grade”.
Other students who were killed in the the attack were Alyssa Alhadeff, 15, Martin Duque, 14, Nicholas Dworet, 17, Jaime Guttenberg, 14, Luke Hoyer, 15, Cara Loughran, 14, Gina Montalto, 14, Joaquin Oliver, 17, Alaina Petty, 14, Meadow Pollack, 18, Helena Ramsey, 17, Helena Ramsey, 17, Alex Schachter, 14, and Carmen Schentrup, 16.
Track coach Aaron Feis, 37, geography teacher Scott Beigel, 35, and athletic director Chris Hixon, 49, also died.
