The father of a first-grader who was killed during the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre is calling for better school security in the wake of Wednesday's mass shooting at a Florida high school.

Jettie Tisdale School on Hollister Avenue in Bridgeport is one of the 41 campuses in the city where security has been increased in response to the Florida shooting that left 17 people dead. It's a move that Neil Heslin says he strongly supports.

Heslin says he suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder as a result of his son's slaying and that his condition was triggered by the Florida attack. His 6-year-old son Jesse Lewis was shot in the head at Sandy Hook. Police say the boy saved the lives of nine people by warning them that gunman Adam Lanza was coming.

Heslin says he supports the right to bear arms and that gun control is not the answer. Instead, he is calling for tighter school security nationwide.

"You have to put armed professionals in there and not a security guard walking the halls or even armed security," Heslin says. "You have to put a professional, a police officer in those schools who's prepared to engage these individuals."

Heslin also met with Bridgeport Police Chief AJ Perez, who ordered the extra security at all city schools.

Suspect Nikolas Cruz, 19, has been charged with 17 counts of murder in the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida.