alex schacter father poem parkland town hall
Victim's father reads son's poem
01:42 - Source: CNN

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Max Schachter reads a poem by his late son at CNN town hall

Actor tweets that poetry by friend's son "is light in this darkness"

CNN  — 

Actor Josh Gad has tweeted his support for a friend whose son was killed during last week’s mass shooting at a Parkland, Florida, high school.

Max Schachter read a poem titled “Life Is Like a Rollercoaster” by his late 14-year-old son, Alex, during CNN’s televised town hall Wednesday night in the wake of the shooting. Alex was among the 17 people killed February 14 when a gunman opened fire at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.

“Life is like a roller coaster/it has some ups and down/sometimes you can take it slow or very fast/ it may be hard to breathe at times/but you have to push yourself and keep going,” the elder Schachter read.

Father reads poem of son killed in Florida school shooting

Gad tweeted, “Watching our family friend #maxschachter read his son Alex’s poem tonight is almost too much for me to bear.”

“Max, we are all with you. We love you,” the “Frozen” actor said. “Your strength is incredible. Your son’s poetry is light in this darkness. #alexschachter.”

Gad had earlier expressed his grief about the shooting before the high school freshman died.

“A child of one of our friend’s has a bullet in his chest & is critical condition because a 19 year old had access to a military weapon,” Gad wrote on Twitter. “Pretend it’s normal. It’s not.”