ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — When UCF Police arrested a student who had a machine gun — and parts to make guns shoot faster — they credited Crimeline tips for alerting them.
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But police say UCF students who have been pushing for change in gun laws also helped them catch and arrest the suspect.
Rayanne Anid, Trevor Wild and other UCF students are planning a vigil on campus to mark the first anniversary of the massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, where 17 people lost their lives.
“It was terrifying, and it absolutely broke my heart,” Anid said.
Anid and other UCF students, some of whom went to the South Florida high school, spent much of the last year pushing for change.
“We screamed, we shouted, we said we wanted to go to school and not be afraid of getting shot,” Anid said.
Their push helped lead to tougher gun laws in Florida that took effect last October, including a bump stock ban that makes it illegal to own certain devices that can make guns shoot faster.
UCF Police used that ban to charge a 19-year-old student, Max Chambers, when they found that he was in possession of those devices, and a rifle, on campus earlier this week.
“It’s terrifying to think so much power in such a small amount of time, so much could happen,” Anid said.
At a scheduled meet-and-greet with students Thursday morning, UCF’s police chief said he got many thanks from students. But he said he’s thankful for what many students did for police.
“The work they did post-Parkland made a huge difference for us, and we’re grateful to that group for that,” UCF Police Chief Carl Metzger said.
UCF Police said they don’t know of any specific threats from Chambers. They thinks he’s just a gun enthusiast. But they said Chambers told them he was well aware that what he had was illegal — and that he “does not like laws.”
Wild went to Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School and now goes to UCF.
“The laws exist to keep us safe, and he knowingly broke that law, putting a lot of people in danger,” Wild said.
Anid says Chambers’s arrest this week inspires her to keep pushing for change.
“At the time, passing one law, it feels like such a small step,” Anid said. “But seeing it in action and what it possibly stopped from happening, it really makes you feel like what we’re doing is worth it, and it’s working, and we need to keep pushing.”
The vigil that students have planned to remember the Parkland victims will be at Memory Mall at UCF the night of February 14, the first anniversary of the shooting.
