Florida survivor's grandfather lived through Camden mass shooting - the nation's first

PARKLAND, Florida (WPVI) -- One Florida teen is making an eerie connection between the tragedy she lived through and a similar rampage that happened decades ago.

17-year-old Carly Novell shared a photo on Twitter a day after she survived the Florida school shooting by hiding in a closet.

She says her grandfather Charles Cohen also hid in a closet to escape a mass murder nearly 70 years ago.

Cohen lived through gunman Howard Unruh's rampage in Camden, New Jersey in 1949, in which 13 people were killed in what is considered to be the first mass shooting in America.

Novell says the two tragedies although generations apart, show there is still a need for change.

"People keep saying your 'thoughts and prayers' and all these things, but it doesn't make a difference if nothing ever changes. This happens over and over again and people are dying and it seems like it doesn't matter. Because what are thoughts and prayers going to do when people are already dead," Novell said.

She is now expressing her frustration with the nation's gun laws, saying they need to be stricter.

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