In a collective outcry against the recurrent tidal wave of gun violence, the National Center for Victims of Crime spearheaded the National Training Institute event in Orlando, bringing together survivors, families, and legal experts who've endured the harrowing aftermath of such tragedies. The forum, held at the Hilton Orlando Lake Buena Vista, was not just a platform for sharing harrowing tales but also a torchbearer for preventive measures against future mass shootings, as reported by WFTV.
The timeliness of the event was underscored by the recent Minnesota church shooting, which claimed the lives of two children. A panel comprising bereaved parents from locales steeped in the memory of violence—Parkland, Virginia, and Orlando—converged to discuss both the personal and collective impact of these tragedies. Among them was Tim Schmidt, who, as ClickOrlando documented, shared the distressing loss of his son, Tim Jr., who was one of two fatalities amid a downtown Orlando Halloween event crowd estimated at 75,000 strong.
According to the retelling by ClickOrlando, the sight of his son receiving CPR in a video on social media was how Schmidt initially learned of his son's fate—an experience that feeds into his foundation's mission. "There was a gap that didn’t exist before our charity," Schmidt said, focusing his efforts on a foundation to aid with funeral costs for families of violent crime victims. "So being a voice is better than sitting at home being silent."
The broader ambition of the three-day conference, as ClickOrlando noted, went beyond professional training, seeking to lift the voices of individuals like Schmidt who are translating their grief into tangible advocacy. More than 80 trainings were conducted to buttress the community response to victims.
