West Point Honors Dream of Teen Killed in Shooting

West Point Academy has decided to honor the dream that died along with 15-year-old Peter Wang in the Parkland mass shooting. The JROTC member, who was shot dead in uniform while holding a door open for students and staff members fleeing the gunman, had hoped to go to the military academy after graduating from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, the BBC reports. West Point announced Tuesday that it had accepted the teen posthumously as a member of the 2025 class. His family will receive a letter of admission and honorarium tokens, officials say.

"One of USMA's priorities is to develop leaders of character who are committed to the values of Duty, Honor & Country," the academy tweeted Tuesday. "Peter Wang's actions on February 14 are an example of those principles & the academy honors his dream of being a West Point cadet with a 2025 letter of acceptance." Wang's funeral was Tuesday. Jesse Pan, a friend of the family, tells the BBC's Chinese service that he has been supporting Peter's devastated parents. "I was there with his parents, helping translating and finding a funeral home," he says. "His parents fainted as soon as they saw his body. He had got multiple shots in front ... So horrible." (The US Army is honoring Peter and two other JROTC cadets killed in the shooting.)