19-Year-Old Shoots And Kills 17 People At Florida School

19-Year-Old Shoots And Kills 17 People At Florida School

February 15. 2018

Yesterday was a terrible Valentine's Day in Florida. 19-year-old Nikolas Cruz shot and killed 17 students and faculty members at Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, which is a town 45-minutes from Miami. Students initially thought it was a fire drill when they heard alarms sounding at the school, but soon realized there was an active shooter.

Teachers died trying to protect the students from being harmed, as shots from a deadly automatic weapon rang through the air. Students hid in school closets and corners of rooms to avoid gunfire. My friend's son and his classmates hid in a closet for 3-hours and were then taken to the Marriott Hotel for safety, where they were asked questions by authorities, to ascertain what happened during the mass shooting. They were then released to their worried parents who are glad to see them alive.

Many parents were terrified their children had died. Sadly, some did receive the bad news that their children had indeed passed away at the school, while others died at a local hospital in Broward county. Cruz was initially able to evade arrest by changing clothes and leaving the school by pretending to be one of the children fleeing the shooting.

Nikolas Cruz being arrested by police

After fleeing the school, Cruz called his father and informed him he had, "Done something bad." Cruz's father called the police and gave them his son's location. Police were able to arrest him on the lawn of a homeowner in the vicinity of the school. Cruz was taken to hospital for shortness of breath, which was likely a panic attack. It is the same hospital where some of his victims died, while others remain in critical and stable condition.

A screencap of Nikolas Cruz's Instagram page that was deleted after the shooting

Students interviewed by news crews stated Cruz was expelled from the school one year prior for bad behavior. He brought guns to school and made death threats. In the aftermath of the shooting, students expressed the fact they deemed Cruz sinister and the person who would likely shoot up the school. They were correct.

Distressed people waiting for news after the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida

On September 24, 2017, Cruz left a message on a You Tube page stating "I will be a professional school shooter one day." The You Tube page owner made a complaint to the FBI last year, but the FBI did nothing. Cruz's Instagram page was followed by 138 people. The page displayed many violent images, featuring Cruz brandishing guns and knives and wearing a ski mask. He made no threats on the page. Therefore, it was not illegal, as people are allowed to own guns in America. This mass shooting has led to people calling for gun control once again, which is clearly need.

My condolences to the victims' families and friends. My sympathies to the students of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, who are very traumatized by what has occurred and understandably so. Students interviewed on the shooting, who saw their classmates and teachers dead, state they cannot get the images out of their heads. The students should undergo therapy, due to what they have witnessed.

STORY SOURCE

Nikolas Cruz, Shooting Suspect, Had Been Expelled From School, Authorities Say

FEB. 14, 2018 - The suspect arrested in connection with Wednesday’s shooting at a Florida high school, which left at least 17 people dead, was identified by the sheriff as 19-year-old Nikolas Cruz. Credit via WPTV. The man suspected of opening fire inside a Florida high school on Wednesday, killing at least 17 people, is a former student who had been expelled for disciplinary reasons, the authorities said.

Sheriff Scott Israel of Broward County, Fla., said that the man, Nikolas Cruz, 19, previously attended Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland but was expelled after getting into trouble. He was enrolled at another Broward County school, officials said.

In the hours after the shooting, people who knew Mr. Cruz described him as a “troubled kid” who enjoyed showing off his firearms, bragging about killing animals and whose mother would resort to calling the police to have them come to their home to try to talk some sense into him. At a school with about 3,000 students, Mr. Cruz stayed to himself and had few friends but struck fear in some students with erratic behavior and an affinity for violence.

“He always had guns on him,” the student, who did not give his name, told WFOR-TV. “The crazy stuff that he did was not right for school, and he got kicked out of school multiple times for that kind of stuff.”...

https://www.nytimes.com