The community of Parkland was grieving Monday after a second student took their life a little over a year following the shooting at the Florida town's high school that left 17 people dead.

As Parkland was mourning, the authorities said the father of a child killed in the 2012 massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, had apparently committed suicide.

Jeremy Richman, 49, lost his six-year-old daughter, Avielle, in the Sandy Hook shooting that killed 20 children and six staff members.

"This is awful, horrible, devastating news," Connecticut Senator Chris Murphy said on Twitter, reacting to reports of Richman's death.

"He was just here in Parkland last week," said Ryan Petty, whose 14-year-old daughter Alaina was among the 14 students killed in the February 14, 2018 shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. Three adults were also killed.

"He was here meeting with some of the families here, helping us," Petty said. "It's just heartbreaking to know that he was suffering."

In Florida, the head of the Emergency Management Division urged the state legislature to devote more resources to helping survivors of the school shooting in Parkland.

"Mental health is a bipartisan issue," Jared Moskowitz said on Twitter. "While we are in session NOW is the time."

Moskowitz's appeal followed two suicides over the past week -- one of a former student at Stoneman Douglas and one of a current student.

Sydney Aiello, 19, a Florida Atlantic University student whose best friend, Meadow Pollack, died in the attack at Stoneman Douglas, committed suicide last week.

Her mother told a local television station that Aiello had been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder and with "survivor's guilt" following the school shooting.

- 'Still at risk' -

The second suicide victim has not been publicly identified.

According to the authorities, the student was currently enrolled at Stoneman Douglas and took his own life on Saturday.

Parkland parents, students, teachers and county officials held a gathering on Sunday to discuss providing more support to the community.

"Today was the first of many meetings with all city, county and mental health experts in order to make sure our students, teachers and parents receive the education they need to prevent the next suicide," Max Schachter, whose 14-year-old son Alex was among those killed at Stoneman Douglas, said on Twitter.

Petty told the South Florida Sun-Sentinel that "we have students and staff that are still at risk."

"We have to recognize after an event like this there is trauma, anxiety and depression," Petty told the newspaper. "We have to educate parents and teachers to recognize the signs and ask the right questions."

David Hogg, an 18-year-old Parkland survivor who has become a leader of a Stoneman Douglas student-led movement for gun control, tweeted: "Rip 17+2."

"How many more kids have to be taken from us as a result of suicide for the government/school district to do anything?" Hogg asked.

Stoneman Douglas students have became crusaders against gun violence under the banner "March for Our Lives," lobbying for tougher gun control laws and organizing protests and rallies across the United States.

Several 2020 Democratic presidential hopefuls spoke out following the suicides.

"It's horrific that the Parkland and Sandy Hook communities continue to endure even more loss," Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders tweeted.

"We must take real action to end our gun violence epidemic and do everything we can to support the families who have been affected by this crisis."

California Senator Kamala Harris said she was "absolutely heartbroken."

"Gun violence affects so many lives and we must do better to help each other heal after such tragedies," Harris tweeted.

Hard-right Australian party sought NRA donations: report
Sydney (AFP) March 26, 2019 - Australia's hard-right One Nation party has been accused of seeking donations from US gun lobby group the National Rifle Association ahead of the upcoming general election, according to an Al Jazeera investigation.

Secret recordings aired by the Qatar-based broadcaster showed members of Pauline Hanson's party seeking $10-20 million in donations from the NRA apparently in return for trying to loosen Australia's tight gun laws.

An Al Jazeera investigator posed as a gun lobbyist to facilitate the meeting between Hanson's chief of staff, James Ashby, the party leader in Queensland and the NRA in Washington -- meetings which were video-taped.

In the footage, Ashby was shown saying that he wanted political support, powerful NRA software -- to aid voter targeting -- and help with donations.

"If the NRA want to rally their supporters within Australia, that's one start," Ashby said in one meeting ahead of the sit-down with the NRA.

"Two, I'd love to get my hands on their software. And three, if they can help us with donations, super."

Ashby is heard saying that a $10 million donation would allow One Nation to win eight seats in the Senate, parliament's upper house, giving the party sufficient power to influence legislation.

However, following the Christchurch massacre any move to roll back Australia's strict gun control legislation would likely encounter widespread opposition.

One Nation has two seats in the outgoing Senate, one of them held by party founder Hanson.

NRA official Lars Dalseide later offered the group advice on how to respond to mass shootings in a way that would avoid tighter gun restrictions.

The Al Jazeera report prompted calls for a probe into whether One Nation officials had violated rules against foreign interference in Australian elections.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison tweeted Tuesday that the report about senior One Nation officials courting "foreign political donations from the US gun lobby to influence our elections & undermine our gun laws that keep us safe are deeply concerning".

However, he refused to tell his supporters not to back the party in Australia's ranked voting system.

Morrison's Liberal party are struggling in the polls and are keen not to alienate One Nation voters or their own supporters on the right. The Liberals may yet need to rely on second-preference votes to win marginal seats.

"There are many reasons not to vote for One Nation. It's a long list. We've seen some of those on display in recent times. Today we saw further evidence of that," he said.

But the prime minister added: "There are plenty of extreme views out there," singling out the country's Green party.

Another video purported to show the Australians meeting with representatives of Koch Industries, a company run by conservative powerbroker and activist mega-donor Charles Koch.

In that meeting, Queensland party leader Steve Dickson offers to change Australia's "voting system" in return for cash.

In a statement to Australian media, Ashby attacked Al Jazeera, accusing it of being a propaganda arm of the Qatari government.

He indicated the party had reported Al Jazeera to the police to investigate whether the media group was working as an unregistered foreign agent.

Related Links
Bringing Order To A World Of Disasters
A world of storm and tempest
When the Earth Quakes

Tweet

Thanks for being here; We need your help. The SpaceDaily news network continues to grow but revenues have never been harder to maintain. With the rise of Ad Blockers, and Facebook - our traditional revenue sources via quality network advertising continues to decline. And unlike so many other news sites, we don't have a paywall - with those annoying usernames and passwords. Our news coverage takes time and effort to publish 365 days a year. If you find our news sites informative and useful then please consider becoming a regular supporter or for now make a one off contribution.
SpaceDaily Contributor $5 Billed Once credit card or paypal		SpaceDaily Monthly Supporter $5 Billed Monthly paypal only

China probes factory blast as death toll rises to 47
Yancheng, China (AFP) March 22, 2019
Chinese President Xi Jinping ordered local governments Friday to prevent any more industrial disasters after a chemical plant blast left 47 people dead, injured hundreds and flattened an industrial park in the latest such catastrophe to hit the country. Thursday's explosion in the eastern city of Yancheng, Jiangsu province was one of the worst industrial disasters to hit China, with Xi acknowledging that the country has seen a rash of major accidents in recent years. Xi - who is on a state visi ... read more