The funeral of Scott Beigel, a Jewish geography teacher who was killed in last Wednesday’s shooting at the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, was held on Sunday.
At least 350 family members, friends, students and colleagues gathered for his funeral.
As the shots rang out, Beigel unlocked a door to a classroom to let students hide inside as a gunman stalked the halls. While some made it inside, Beigel was shot while trying to lock the door again to keep out the accused shooter, Nikolas Cruz.
The New York Post described Beigel as a “hero” and reported that he once told his fiancée Gwen as they watched coverage of a school shooting on TV, “Promise me if this ever happens to me, you will tell them the truth — tell them what a jerk I am, don’t talk about the hero stuff.”
“OK, Scott, I did what you asked,” his fiancée said. “Now I can tell the truth. You are an amazingly special person. You are my first love and my soulmate.’’