Parkland shooting anniversary: Slain athletic director remembered as a hero

A year after the mass shooting at a Florida high school, the memory of the athletic director who died trying to shield students remains vivid.

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Chris Hixon was killed in the Feb. 14, 2018, shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, one of three adults slain that day. Fourteen students also died that morning in Parkland, Florida.

"Chris was an extraordinary person living an ordinary life," his widow, Debbi Hixon, told WTVJ.

The home shared by Hixon and his wife of 28 years contains two donated portraits, the television station reported. A new tree in the front yard blooms with yellow flowers, which was Chris Hixon’s favorite color. An “MSD Strong” flag flaps in the breeze on the roof of the home.

Chris Hixon was a U.S. Navy veteran who also was the school's wrestling coach. As the gunman began shooting in a building on campus, Hixon ran unarmed into the hallway and confronted the shooter, WTVJ reported. He was killed as he attempted to shield students from the barrage of bullets.

"That's probably the hardest part for me, you try to figure out why, and there will never be a why, it'll never make sense," Debbi Hixon told the television station.

Debbi Hixon has gone to counseling to try and cope with the tragedy. She speaks with her 26-year-old son, Tom Hixon, who lives in California, via Skype; another son, Corey, 23, has a developmental disability and lives at home. Debbi Hixon also shares her grief with the families of the other people killed that day, WTVJ reported.

"The anger, and just the pure unbelievableness of what happened that day, is really hard to explain to somebody," Debbi Hixon told the television station.

Chris Hixon's family has started an athletic scholarship in his memory, which will benefit a student from Stoneman Douglas High School and two other schools Chris Hixon worked at, WTVJ reported.

A 5-kilometer run, the Chris Hixon Memorial Run/Walk, to raise money for the scholarship will be run Saturday, the television station reported.

Cox Media Group