Pair of vandals steal teddy bears, memorial plaques from Parkland school shooting monument honoring victims: Police

Two people are in custody in Parkland, Florida, after they allegedly stole items from a memorial dedicated to the victims of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting in February.

ABC News reports that Michael Shawn Kennedy, 37, and Kara O’Neil, 40, were arrested on Sunday after a witness saw them allegedly taking items from the memorial erected at the school. The witness reportedly told police they saw the pair “willfully and knowingly deface and remove monument items.”

After the report, law enforcement reportedly searched their car and found teddy bears, pinwheels, and memorial plaques in the vehicle.

Both suspects were arrested for removing or disfiguring a tomb or a monument and ordered held on $1,000 bail.

A motive for the plundering is not known.

“I’m kind of speechless,” Sari Kaufman, a 15-year-old sophomore who survived the shooting, told the Sun Sentinel.

“I know that memorial has helped us all cope.”

“That whole monument is just to honor [the victims],” she said. “It’s kind of like stealing from them, their families and our whole community.”

 

[Feature image: Associated Press]