Chinese-American teenage boy killed in Florida high school rampage

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A Chinese-American family living in the US welcomed Chinese lunar New Year with tragedy after their 15-year-old teenage son was killed in the Florida high school massacre.

Peter Wang was shot dead while trying to help his classmates at Marjory Stoneman Douglas School in Parkland run for cover after Nikolas Cruz opened fire on Wednesday.

Fourteen students and three teachers were killed in the deadliest school shooting in the United States since 2012.

Wang was last seen by his cousin Aaron Chen, who was also at school at the time, holding the door for terrified schoolmates to escape the gunman.

Wang was last seen by his cousin Aaron Chen wearing his ROTC uniform. /Photo via Daily Mail

“He wasn’t supposed to die. He was supposed to grow old with me. Please share his story,” Chen told First Coast News.

Gabriel Ammirata, Wang’s best friend, described him to the Miami Herald as a funny, nice and great friend.

"He’s been my best friend since third grade,” Ammirata said, adding that she had planned to spend the Chinese New Year with Wang’s family at their restaurant on Thursday.

"He was so brave," Lin Chen, another cousin of Wang who flew from Louisiana to be with the boy’s family, told Sun Sentinel.

"He was the person who was genuinely kind to everyone. He didn't care about popularity."

Wang's parents wait anxiously in a hotel for the news. /Daily Mail Photo

Wang’s parents, who reportedly speak little English, relied on their neighbors and friends to translate for them. They had rushed to a hotel designated by local authorities for parents who hadn’t heard from their kids and waited for news.

“I feel the family can never be the same,” Chen told Sun Sentinel. She added that Wang had two younger brothers, aged five and 11, and his parents were too upset to face the media.

The suspect shooter of Florida high school shooting. /VCG Photo

Cruz, 19, was armed with an AR-15 rifle, multiple magazines of ammunition, smoke grenades and a gas mask, stormed the school, which he used to attend before being expelled for "disciplinary reasons", and opened fire on students and teachers.

On Thursday, a Florida judge ordered Cruz be held without bond on 17 counts of murder. His attorney did not contest the order.

Netizens on Chinese social media expressed their sympathy to Wang's parents.

"I can't imagine how heartbreaking his parents would be. This family should have been celebrating the lunar New Year together now. The shooter destroyed everything and brought devastating results to all the victims' families, one user of China's Twitter-like Weibo commented.