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Video shows moment when gunman opened fire inside Florida school
A shooting at a high school in Parkland, Florida, left at least 17 people dead, officials said Wednesday, and the suspect — believed to be a former student — was in custody.
The shooting suspect was identified as Nikolaus Cruz, Broward County Sheriff Scott Israel confirmed during an evening news conference.
Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School was under lockdown as police rushed to the scene during the afternoon.
Of the 17 people killed, 12 of them died in the school, two were killed outside, one passed away on the street and another two died enroute to the hospital, Israel said. He added that 15 people were transported to the hospital.
The alleged gunman carried an AR-15 and had “countless magazines,” the sheriff said.
The 19-year-old suspect was wearing a maroon shirt as police led him off to a squad car. Video provided to WSVN appeared to show officers cuffing the suspect in the grass.
Israel said earlier that the suspect was taken into custody “without incident” in an area off school grounds and was “not a current student” at the school. During the evening news conference, the sheriff said the suspect had been expelled for disciplinary reasons.
A 7News viewer says this video came from her little brother, showing the SWAT team evacuating his classroom at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School after this afternoon’s shooting.
Video: @Melody_Ball pic.twitter.com/d9wPh7jVoY
Still locked in. I checked the local news and there is 20 victims. Long live Majory Stoneman Douglas High. pic.twitter.com/4kQMAlCBWt
— Aidan (@TheCaptainAidan) February 14, 2018
#BREAKING QUICK video of suspect being arrested by police @wsvn pic.twitter.com/f5wdtlP3jT
— Franklin White (@FranklinWSVN) February 14, 2018
The high school scene was still being cleared, Israel added earlier, to ensure no other threat remains. Parkland is about 50 miles north of Miami.
The suspect was brought to the Broward Sheriff’s headquarters in a blue medical gown after being taken to the hospital.
Florida Sen. Bill Nelson told Fox News, “It’s a bad day.”
“I have already said my prayers to give them comfort, but this is a tough time,” Nelson said. “We say ‘enough is enough,’ but it happens again.”
Senator Marco Rubio echoed that sentiment on Twitter saying, “Today is that terrible day you pray never comes.”
“There are numerous fatalities,” Broward County Superintendent Robert Runcie said. “It is a horrific situation. It is a horrible day for us.”
He added that there was currently “no evidence” to suggest that there was “more than one shooter,” according to WSVN.
Coral Springs Police asked the public to avoid the area of the high school, saying it was an active scene. A nearby middle school was also put on lockdown as a precaution, officials said.
Many students were seen walking or running from the area, the outlet said.
High school junior Noah Parness, 17, told The Associated Press that the fire alarm went off for the second time of the day about 2:30 p.m. He said he and others calmly went outside for a fire drill when he suddenly heard several pops.
“Everyone was kind of just standing there calm, and then we saw a bunch of teachers running down the stairway, and then everybody shifted and broke into a spring,” Parness said. “I hopped a fence.”
A person who claimed to be at the scene posted pictures to Twitter of students hiding beneath desks in one of the classrooms.
View image on Twitter
