Daniel Bishop, a Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School student at the time of the 2018 mass shooting and current University of Miami senior, died Monday in a scooter crash in Coral Gables as he commuted to the university’s campus.
Bishop, of Coral Springs, was a senior studying mathematics and psychology at the private university, where he was a member of the President’s 100, the university’s orientation and tour guide ambassadors, and the chair of Hurricane Productions, an entertainment and programming student organization, UM officials said in a message to students Tuesday.
He was a student at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland when a former student shot and killed 17 students and teachers in the school’s 1200 building on Feb. 14, 2018. He was inside the neighboring building and recalled hearing the first gunshot that afternoon, according to a 2018 news report.
In September 2018, that Bishop was preparing to read a speech that likened school zones to war zones at National Speech and Debate competitions after the shooting. The speech was filmed for a documentary, along with him reading parts from his peers David Hogg’s and Lauren Hogg’s book “#NeverAgain: A New Generation Draws the Line” and parts of a book called “I Survived a School Shooting: Why Did You Forget About Me?”
A photo of Bishop grieving at a makeshift memorial a few days after the 2018 shooting was published by several news outlets across the country. He shared the photo on his Instagram account in a post marking one year since the shooting.
“I urge you all to do something you love tomorrow,” Bishop wrote in the post on Feb. 13, 2019. “Ride a bike, go outside, be grateful that you have the opportunity to live. And remember, Valentine’s day is a day of love. So spread love like there’s no tomorrow because unfortunately, there might not be.”
Coral Gables Police have released few details about the Monday crash in the area of LeJeune Road and Altara Avenue. A department spokesperson did not return a voicemail or email seeking additional information Tuesday afternoon.
Coral Gables PD is currently investigating a serious crash at the intersection of LeJeune Road and Altara Av.
If possible, please use an alternative route.
Media staging area will be Altara Avenue and Laguna Street.
Thank you. pic.twitter.com/MGujgdlTpU
— Coral Gables Police (@CoralGablesPD) March 4, 2024
UM said Bishop was riding his scooter to campus and that the police department is investigating but did not provide additional information.
Bishop was also an ambassador for the university’s It’s on Us Program, which focuses on sexual misconduct education, according to a post on the program’s Instagram account Tuesday. As a frequent honor-roll student, Bishop tutored his peers on campus and was set to start a dream job after graduation as a math teacher at Gulliver Prep, a private school in Miami, UM’s statement said.
“His friends shared that Danny was filled with positivity and passion for life,” the university said. “He had incredible ambition and drive and his love for math was inspiring. He was a student leader who would rise by uplifting others. Whatever he did was with authenticity and he cared for everyone he interacted with and tackled each task he undertook with determination.”
He was “known for his insatiable energy and determination,” earned a black belt in karate and ran a math tutoring business, the university said.
“Often, you would find him at Richter Library tutoring many of his fellow students, and then hear him at a Hurricane Productions event belting out his signature ‘Woo!’ Danny was fun-loving and would want us to carry on his legacy by helping students make memories,” UM’s statement said.
Megan Ondrizek, a university spokesperson, said Tuesday afternoon that a memorial would be planned for when students return from Spring Break in mid-March.