Florida school shooting: Petition calls for honors military funeral for JROTC student seen opening door for classmates during shooting

A White House petition is urging the government to give a full honors military funeral to a student in his Junior ROTC uniform who was helping get people to safety when he was killed in the Parkland high school shooting.

Lin Chen told Sun-Sentinel that her cousin, Peter Wang, 15, was wearing his gray JROTC shirt when he became one of 17 killed Wednesday during a mass shootingat Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. She claimed that Wang was seen holding a door for his classmates before he was fatally shot.

“He is so brave. He is the person who is genuinely kind to everyone. He doesn’t care about popularity. He always liked to cheer people up. He is like the big brother everyone wished they had,’’ Chen told the Sentinel, adding that Wang was excited to celebrate the Chinese New Year.

“I feel the family can never be the same.”

Following the news of his death, a petition began circulating on Friday seeking to have the teen laid to rest in a full honors military funeral. Fox News noted that the JROTC doesn’t provide basic training so it doesn’t count as “being in the military.”

The petition reads, “His selfless and heroic actions have led to the survival of dozens in the area. Wang died a hero, and deserves to be treated as such, and deserves a full honors military burial.”

The petition needs 100,000 signatures by March 18 to get a response from the White House. The petition has a little more than 21,000 signatures as of Monday afternoon.

Wang’s funeral is service scheduled for 11 a.m. February 20 at Kraeer Funeral Home and Cremation Center in Coral Springs.

[Featured Image: Peter Wang/Facebook]