By Josh Nathan-Kazis February 16, 2018

A 17-year-old girl who survived this week’s massacre at a Florida high school is the granddaughter of a man who lived through an mass shooting often cited as America’s first such tragedy.

This is my grandpa. When he was 12 years old, he hid in a closet while his family was murdered during the first mass shooting in America. Almost 70 years later, I also hid in a closet from a murderer. These events shouldn’t be repetitive. Something has to change. #douglasstrong pic.twitter.com/nDctTNlUNs

— carly (@car_nove) February 15, 2018

Forwarding the News

Thoughtful, balanced reporting from the Forward and around the web, bringing you updated news and analysis each day.

Terms(Required)

I agree to the Forward's Terms of Service and Privacy Policy

Email(Required)

Carly Novell, who hid in a closet during the Florida shooting, said on Twitter that her grandfather had done the same during a massacre 70 years ago.

“These events shouldn’t be repetitive,” she said. “Something has to change.”

Novell’s grandfather, Charles Cohen, survived a shooting in 1949 when a neighbor in Camden, New Jersey named Howard Unruh killed 13 people, including his parents and his grandmother. The killer targeted Cohen’s family over imagined slights.

“I just want people to stop talking about it and then not doing anything,” Novell said on CNN. “People keep saying your thoughts and prayers and all of these things, but it doesn’t make a difference if nothing ever changes.”

Contact Josh Nathan-Kazis at [email protected] or on Twitter, @joshnathankazis.

A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

The coming year promises to be filled with more complex and historic developments. We are entering an era where independent, fact-based Jewish journalism will be more important than ever. We need to be ready for whatever 2025 will bring, and with your help, we can be.

We’ve set a goal to raise $260,000 by December 31. That’s an ambitious goal, but one that will give us the resources we need to invest in the high quality news, opinion, analysis and cultural coverage that isn’t available anywhere else.

If you feel inspired to make an impact, now is the time to give something back. Join us as a member at your most generous level.

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

With your support, we’ll be ready for whatever 2025 brings.

$36 $500

$120 $180 Other amount