17 killed in 'catastrophic' shooting at Parkland school; shooter in custody (2024)

A 19-year-old man armed with an AR-15 rifle and described as a former student carried out a shooting Wednesday afternoon that left 17 people dead at a south Florida high school in Parkland, according to the Broward County sheriff.

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It was one of the deadliest mass shootings to take place in Florida since the June 12, 2016 Pulse Nightclub shooting in Orlando that left 49 victims dead.

Thismassacre — which happened on Valentine's Day — was one of the deadliest to happen on a school campus in U.S. history.

"It's a horrific, horrific day," Broward County Sheriff Scott Israel saidin a news conference in the hours after the shooting.

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According to law enforcement sources, the shooter, former student Nikolas Cruz,was captured after an intense manhunt of the campus grounds. He had been expelled from the school for disciplinary reasons, the sheriff reported.

It was near dismissal time as hundreds of students were preparing to leave MarjoryStoneman Douglas High School in Broward County when a fire alarm was pulled and gunshots from the high-powered rifle rang out. The shooter wore a gas mask, according to U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson, speaking on CNN.

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Within moments, more than a dozen people — including students — were wounded and hundreds of students were scrambling for safety as bullets sprayed the hallways. Studentshid in classrooms, not sure of what was happening as the loud sounds of gunfire continued.

Rebecca Bogart, 17, wasn’t sure if the reports of shooting were a drill.

Her high school had a fire drill earlier that day, and she knew it was somewhat common to do an active shooter drill.

It wasn’t until the windows of her first-floor classroom shattered and Bogart saw a bullet near the shades did she understand what was happening.

“It was really hard to be calm,” Bogart said. “My friend was holding my hand.”

Bogart said that’s what she and her classmates tried to do as they hid from the shooter.

Though she couldn’t see them from under the teacher’s desk where she was hiding, Bogart said she could hear four of her classmates screaming in pain from injuries.

She didn’t know if they had been shot.

When the SWAT team entered the room, they escorted the students out. As Bogart walked down the hall, she saw students covered in blood.

The SWAT team told her and her fellow students to get as far away as possible. Bogart said she walked miles before stopping to get picked up by her father.

“I’m still in shock right now,” she said.

'Catastrophic'

Authorities immediately offered a grim assessment of what happened.

"It's catastrophic. There really are no words," Israel said in a news conference nearly two hours after the shooting took place.

Helicopter footage shortly before 4 p.m. showed police frisking a handcuffed young man outside a squad car. Dressed in a maroon shirt and dark trousers, he was placed in the squad car as TV choppers filmed the scene. He gave no visible sign of being injured, but authorities said Cruz was transported to Broward Health North.

Broward Health spokespersonJennifer Smith said the hospital had nine patients, including Cruz, who is no longer there. Two of those patients died, threeare in critical condition and four are in fair condition.

Dr. Benny Menendez, chief of emergency medicine at Broward Health Medical Center, said the hospital received seven victims: five are stable and twoare critical.

“We don’t expect any more victims,” Menendez said.

Crime scene

The school will remain closed through the remainder of the week as forensics teams, investigators and others sweep through the hallways and classrooms in what is now a large-scale crime scene.

The initial reports of multiple victims at the highschool began at about dismissal time.

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"So far, we have at least 14 victims. Victims have been and continue to be transported to Broward Health Medical Center and Broward Health North hospital," the Broward County Sheriff's office tweeted just over an hour after being called to the site.

Media reports from the school showed images of hundreds of students frantically running — at times walking with their hands up — from the campus. Armed deputies, including tactical team members in armored vehicles and carrying assault rifles, could be seen guiding students from the school.

The school had goneon lockdown. Hundreds of students were released a short time later.

“We cannot live in a world that’s built on fear,” said Robert Runcie,the superintendent of Broward County Public Schools during a news conference broadcast nearly two hours after the shooting.

He said the shooting appeared to be the worst in Broward County history.

“What I’ll tell you is that mental health issues in this country are growing and it’s a challenge … no sane person is going to go and commit such an atrocity.”

The suspected shooter in theParkland high school attack had a hot temper and a history of making dark, gun-related jokes, a former classmate said.

As friends hiding from the shooter sent photos and videos over Snapchat to 19-year-old Jillian Davis, she started to recognize the man her friends described.

Nikolas Cruz, a classmate who participated in Davis’ninth-grade JROTC group, was usually a quiet kid who kept to himself, but “there was a lot of anger management issues there,” she said.

“Finding out it was him him makes a lot of sense now,” Davis said.

Cruz would joke about shooting people or shooting up establishments, she added. At the time, she thought it was normal, violent teenage jokes. Cruz would also talk a lot about having guns and using them in different situations, she said.

It was the latest in a series of mass shootings to take place in the U.S. this year.

There have been six school shootings since Jan. 1 involving injuries or deaths to students. In all, 18 school shooting incidents have taken place,according to the advocacy website Everytown for Gun Safety, which has logged or counted 290 school shootings since 2013. That included everything from suicidestomass shootings.

Reactions

The devastating scene of panicked students fleeing the school and a ring of deputies surrounding the campus prompted prayers and words of comfort from national and state leaders.

President Donald Trumpcontacted Gov. Rick Scott about the shooting.

“My prayers and condolences to the families of the victims of the terrible Florida shooting,” Trump tweeted Wednesday afternoon. “No child, teacher or anyone else should ever feel unsafe in an American school,” the president wrote.

Members of the Florida House had a moment of silence while they were in session and were getting constant updates from the floor.

State Sen. Kevin Rader, who represents the area, is heading back to his district, according to a Senate Democrats’ tweet.

Broward's public school district is the sixth largest in the nation.There are 3,158 students attending the high school, according to the National Center for Education website.

Brevard Public Schools Superintendent Desmond Blackburn previously worked in the Broward County school district."My thoughts and prayers are with the entire school system. It’s a horrific incident," Blackburn said in a statement to FLORIDA TODAY.

Before coming to Brevard in June 2015,Blackburn worked thereas an area superintendent and area director of school improvement,principal of Ramblewood Middle School in Coral Springs, assistant principal of Sunrise Middle School in Fort Lauderdale and amathteacher at Plantation High School in Plantation.

Sen. Lauren Book, D-Plantation, represents Broward and talked about the impact of such incidents.

“We hear about school shootings all the time. Sadly, they have become a part of our national news cycle. As a mom and a former classroom teacher, I am left more and more horrified and agonized with each tragedy," she said.

"And yet, despite the seemingly endless reports, nothing prepares you for the reality of a school shooting unfolding in your own community. I am devastated. Fellow parents, let’s all hug our babies a little closer tonight.”

Alexandra Schmitz and Caroline Glennwith the USA TODAY Network and The Associated Press contributed to this report.