And in Parkland, Florida, students returned to Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School for their first day of classes since the shooting. 17 people died that day. The suspect is in custody, charged with their murders. As CGTN's Nitza Soledad Perez reports the wounds are still raw for many of the students.

Somber faces and a heavy police presence marked the students' attempt to return to normalcy. Close to three thousand of them went back to Marjory Stoneman High School for classes two weeks after a former student opened fire and killed seventeen people on this campus.

For many, it was not an easy morning.

ELIZABETH RANGEL STUDENT "I'm really nervous to go back, I don't want to go back at all."

"Why? What is it about going back that makes you so nervous?"

"I don't feel safe at school anymore. I don't just the way he kind of got in, just on his own without any kind of security. So many lives are lost, it doesn't make it any easier."

I asked Elizabeth what she needed to feel safe.

ELIZABETH RANGEL STUDENT "Gun control reform, any kind of reform, mental health reform, background checks on gun control, everything."

They are mourning their friends, classmates and the feeling of safety and security once found here.

HUNTER POLYAK STUDENT "I think it's going to be good for everyone to try and get started back into a normal routine. Because that is how it should be, but it's going to be hard."

A stream of well-wishers tried to ease the difficult return.

ROD SKIRVIN, VP BROWARD COUNTY POLICE BENEVOLENT ASSOCIATION "You could see the pain in a lot of their faces. But when I handed a kid a flower, it immediately brings a smile. And some of them I would give them a flower and tell them, you gotta give me a smile for that flower and immediately they would break into a smile. So that is mission accomplished, that is making their first day at school just a little easier, that's what we wanted to do."

Hundreds of off duty police officers, from here in Florida and as far away as New York City, came to show their support.

This first day back was about healing, no need for backpacks. Additional grief counselors were on site, even therapy dogs. Most of the kids we met say they won't let this tragedy define them.

NICOLE SUAREZ STUDENT "I mean we have to go back strong but it's still a little bit fresh but we have to keep going and move on."

NITZA SOLEDAD PEREZ PARKLAND, FLORIDA "Florida Governor Rick Scott introduced a 500 million dollar proposal to keep students safe, which includes a mandatory law enforcement officer in every school, more training for school personnel and an expansion of mental health services for students in the state. But this is a local initiative. These students will continue their national fight for gun control with a mass protest planned next month in Washington. NSP CGTN Parkland, FL."