Seventeen people, children and adults, were killed on Valentine’s Day at a high school in southeastern Florida where a 19-year-old opened fire with a semi-automatic rifle, causing panic among students, before surrendering to police.
The shooting, one of the worst in the United States in the last 25 years and the eighteenth at a school this year, occurred on Wednesday just before the end of classes at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland.
The suspect, identified as Nikolaus Cruz (19), a former student who had been expelled from the school for disciplinary reasons, surrendered to police shortly thereafter in a location near Coral Springs, said Broward County Sheriff Scott Israel.
The sheriff stated that an AR-15 semi-automatic rifle, which is easily obtainable in much of the U.S., was used in the attack.
Nikolaus Cruz, born in September 1998, had posted “alarming” messages on social media, the sheriff added, emphasizing the necessity of reporting such posts.
Burst Fire
Burst fire, characteristic of this type of rifle, was heard in an amateur video taken in one classroom and released by CBS. The footage shows students hiding under desks and lying on the floor while screams can be heard from outside.
Witnesses said they hid in closets when the gunfire erupted just before the end of classes at 2:30 PM.
“The fire alarm went off and we all thought it was a drill because we had already had a false alarm once, so we didn’t take it seriously. Suddenly, we heard gunfire from another part of the school,” a student told local network WSVN 7 News.
Ambulances, fire trucks, and a long line of police cars and armored vehicles from the SWAT team were parked next to the school. Victims were evacuated by helicopter.
“Loner”
Nikolaus Cruz was known as a troubled child at school, witnesses said, as reported by local networks.
One student told WSVN-7 that the young man was a “troubled child” who owned weapons and had threatened to use them. “He shot with a rifle because he was like intoxicated at that time,” he said.
Another student, Nicholas Coke, said Cruz was a “loner” who left school a few months ago and moved north after his mother’s death. He reportedly also underwent military training, according to sources in the Pentagon who did not provide details.
“In the end, everyone predicted this,” added the student whose identity is not disclosed, emphasizing that Cruz was well aware of the layout and security procedures in place at the school in case of a shooting.
