Photo by Ian Witlen February 14, 2018, was meant to be a Valentine s Day like any other for the students of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. Instead, a day that s meant to celebrate love in all of its iterations became forever entwined with scenes of horror. That fateful day, former MSD student Nikolas Cruz gunned down 17 people 14 students and three teachers at the Parkland high school. As soon as news of the travesty spread, photographer Ian Witlen whose work has appeared on CNN and in
New Times,
Time, and other publications was called to document the scene outside the high school, his alma mater.