Friend of Parkland shooting victim reminds NC students they have 'power to save lives'

Providence High School junior Jules Oringel was stunned when she received a string of messages on Feb. 14.

“I get a text saying there’s an active shooter in my school. I love you guys, I love you guys,” Oringel said.

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After attending a sleep away camp, Oringel had accumulated more than two dozen friends at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. As she received texts about a gunman in the school, she tried to calm her friends with texts of encouragement.

“It’s going to be okay. Put your backpack down when they come, you’re going to be okay,” she recalled writing.

It wasn’t until the next morning that she realized one of her friends from camp, Alyssa Alhadeff, was murdered in her freshman English class.

“I’ve struggled helping my friends recover from the trauma and also myself feeling safe in school and feeling safe in public places just with that constant threat of violence,” Oringel said.

After losing Alhadeff, Oringel felt she had to do something.

“After seeing what my friends had to go through, what our community went through grieving Alyssa, I knew that I had to make a difference,” she said.

This weekend, Oringel joined North Carolina Students Demand Action on a tour across the state to rally against gun violence. At each stop, she sells merchandise to raise money for organizations that support gun safety.

“Each of us has the power to make a difference and save lives,” she said.

Oringel said she will continue to travel and share her friend’s story in the hopes that no other community has to suffer a similar loss.

After Sunday’s event, organizers headed to Greensboro to help people register to vote.