17 Killed at Florida High School; Accused Shooter is Former Student with ‘Very Disturbing’ Social Media By Bridget Johnson
https://pjmedia.com/news-and-politics/17-killed-florida-high-school-accused-shooter-former-student-disturbing-social-media/
At least 17 people were killed as a former student at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., opened fire on campus today.
Nikolas Cruz, a 19-year-old expelled from the school for disciplinary reasons, fled the scene but was apprehended and arrested a short time later. Misspellings of his first name were circulating earlier among media and social media.
Broward County Sheriff Scott Israel told reporters that the shooting began outside of the school. Twelve of the victims were found in buildings, two were killed outside on school grounds, and one person was shot to death outside of school property on Pine Island Road. Two more shooting victims died at a hospital.
Israel noted that victims among the 17 wounded taken to hospitals are still undergoing surgery. Three people were in critical condition.
Though he didn’t have a breakdown of how many victims were students and how many were teachers, the sheriff said the deceased were a mixture of young people and adults.
Israel said investigators have begun dissecting Cruz’s social media, and “some of the things that have come to light are very, very disturbing.” He said the shooter had multiple magazines and used at least one AR-15.
Some witness accounts said the shooter may have pulled a fire alarm to get people out of rooms; the sheriff wouldn’t comment on the report. But Sen. Bill Nelson (D-Fla.), after receiving a federal briefing, told CNN that Cruz had a gas mask and smoke grenades, and did pull the fire alarm.
“We were told last year that he wasn’t allowed on campus with a backpack on him,” math teacher Jim Gard, who said Cruz had been in his class last year, told the Miami Herald. “There were problems with him last year threatening students, and I guess he was asked to leave campus.”
Students who spoke with local media after the shooting expressed little surprise that Cruz was arrested as the suspect. One told WFOR-TV that other students “knew it was going to be him.” Student Matthew Walker told ABC News that “everything he posts [on social media] is about weapons”; he said Cruz’s selection of victims appeared to be random. CONTINUE AT SITE
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