Peter Wang died a 'hero' in Florida shooting, wearing his ROTC uniform. Petition seeks a full honors military funeral

PARKLAND, Fla. — Peter Wang died in his Junior Reserve Officers' Training Corps uniform while helping fellow students get to safety as shots rang out inside Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School on Valentine's Day.

The Parkland community wants the 15-year-old to have a burial fit for a military hero.

An online petition filed Feb.16 on whitehouse.gov calls for Congress to allow for Peter to have a full honors military funeral.

The online petition states:

"Peter Wang, 15, was one of the students killed in Florida this past week. He was a JROTC Cadet who was last seen, in uniform, holding doors open and thus allowing other students, teachers, and staff to flee to safety. Wang was killed in the process. His selfless and heroic actions have led to the survival of dozens in the area. Wang died a hero, and deserves to be treated as such, and deserves a full honors military burial."

The petition needs 100,000 signatures by March 18 to get a response from the White House, according to the website. By Sunday evening, 17,669 people signed the petition.

Wang’s funeral will be Tuesday at 1 p.m. ET at Kraeer Funeral Home in Coral Springs. He will be laid to rest at Bailey Memorial Gardens in North Lauderdale.

See the petition here.

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Follow Alexi C. Cardona on Twitter: @Alexi_Cristina