Meadow Pollack, an 18-year-old senior was also identified along with adults Scott Beigel, 35, and Alex Schachter, 49.<\/span><\/span>
\nBroward County Sheriff Scott Israel had refused to list the names of the victims until all of their next of kin had been contacted.<\/p>\n\u201cA huge number went to that school,\u201d Bosman said of his congregants.<\/p>\n
A gunman identified as Nikolas Cruz, 19, armed with a semiautomatic rifle killed at least 17 people at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School on Wednesday, police said. Another 17 wounded were in local hospitals, The New York Times reported. Cruz, a former student at the school who was expelled, was in custody.<\/p>\n
Health professionals who gathered at Kol Tikvah walked the high school students through the beginning stages of coping with the trauma, Boxman said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWithin our own community we have many mental health professionals to rely on,\u201d the rabbi said, and many of them rushed to the synagogue to set up counseling services. \u201cIt was a place to come for refuge.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe just pulled together as a community, the surrounding congregations, to be there for our kids and families, getting the kids to have an opportunity to speak to their experience and begin the healing process in the community,\u201d said Geri Pomerantz, the president of Kol Tikvah.<\/p>\n
The session lasted 3 1\/2 hours, and was organized by Kol Tikvah and other synagogues from nearby towns, as well as the local Jewish federation.<\/p>\n
Rabbi Jonathan Kaplan of the nearby Temple Beth Chai spent the evening at the local Marriott Hotel, where parents had gathered to reunite with their children, counseling parents whose children are still missing. One child from Kaplan\u2019s congregation is among the dead, and another is missing.<\/p>\n
Beth Chai plans to hold a service Thursday in response to the shooting.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s chaos here and devastation,\u201d Kaplan told JTA on his way to console the bereaved parents in his congregation. \u201cEveryone is just waiting and praying. No words can describe what happened here.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kol Tikvah will also open up to families on Thursday, as schools in Parkland will be closed, Boxman said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe children will be able to come and be there with counselors,\u201d he said. \u201cOn Shabbat we\u2019ll have a service of healing and unity.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/GettyImages-918331420.jpg\")