Stoneman Douglas High School shooting

this is the news everyone's been talking about. On the afternoon of February 14, 2018, a mass shooting occurred at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, in the Miami metropolitan area. Seventeen people were killed and fifteen more were taken to hospitals, making it one of the world's deadliest school massacres. The suspected perpetrator, Nikolas Jacob Cruz, was arrested shortly afterward and confessed, according to the Broward County Sheriff's Office. He was charged with 17 counts of premeditated murder. In September 2017, the FBI learned "nikolas cruz" had posted a YouTube comment, "Im going to be a professional school shooter", but could not identify the poster. In January 2018, it got another tip, that Cruz had made a death threat, but due to an error, its Miami field office was not notified. Police and prosecutors have not yet established a motive for the rampage and are looking into "a pattern of disciplinary issues and unnerving behavior". Shooting: The shooting took place during the afternoon of February 14, 2018, at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. The suspected shooter, Nikolas Cruz, requested an Uber ride and was dropped off at the school at 2:19 p.m. EST. He was carrying a backpack and a long bag. Cruz entered the "freshman building", a three-story structure containing 30 classrooms typically occupied by about 900 students and 30 teachers. He activated a fire alarm while he was armed with an AR-15 style carbine and multiple magazines, and began shooting indiscriminately at students and teachers. He had purchased the rifle legally from a nearby Coral Springs gun store in February 2017. At approximately 2:21, near dismissal time, staff members heard gunfire and activated a "code red" lockdown. The shooting lasted six minutes, after which Cruz left his rifle on the 3rd floor of the building and left the scene by blending in with fleeing students. He walked to a Walmart, where he purchased a soda at its Subway restaurant. He then walked to a McDonald's and lingered before leaving on foot at 3:01. At about 3:40 p.m., he was stopped by a Coconut Creek police officer at 4700 Wyndham Lakes Drive in Coral Springs—two miles from the school—and taken into custody without incident. School surveillance cameras recorded Cruz as the perpetrator. Victims: Fourteen students and three staff members were killed and many others injured, including at least 15 who were taken to area hospitals. Three people remained in critical condition the next day and one the day after that. Of those killed, twelve died in the school, two just outside the school buildings, one on the street, and two at the hospital. The dead were: -Alyssa Alhadeff, 14 -Scott Beigel, 35 -Martin Duque, 14 -Nicholas Dworet, 17 -Aaron Feis, 37 -Jaime Guttenberg, 14 -Chris Hixon, 49 -Luke Hoyer, 15 -Cara Loughran, 14 -Gina Montalto, 14 -Joaquin Oliver, 17 -Alaina Petty, 14 -Meadow Pollack, 18 -Helena Ramsay, 17 -Alex Schachter, 14 -Carmen Schentrup, 16 -Peter Wang, 15 Scott Beigel, a geography teacher at the school, was shot dead after he unlocked a classroom for students to hide; some students survived because the gunman did not enter the classroom. Aaron Feis was an assistant football coach and security guard at the school; he was shot and killed as he shielded two students. Chris Hixon, the school's athletic director, was killed as he ran toward the sound of the gunfire. Fifteen-year-old Peter Wang was last seen in JROTC uniform holding open doors so others could get out more quickly. Wang was called a hero and many called to bury him with full military honors. Nikolas Cruz: The suspected shooter was identified as Nikolas Jacob Cruz, a 19-year-old former student at the school. His former math teacher said an email from the school administration had circulated among teachers. The email warned that Cruz had made threats against other students, which led the school to ban him from wearing a backpack on campus. He was later expelled for disciplinary reasons. Cruz was born on September 24, 1998, in Margate, Florida, and was adopted at age 2. His adoptive father died during Cruz's childhood. His adoptive mother died at age 68 in November 2017. Cruz had been living with relatives and friends since her death. He had previously been receiving mental health treatment, but stopped going. He was a member of the Junior Reserve Officers' Training Corps (JROTC) and had received multiple awards for outstanding academic performance. He was also a member of his school's varsity air rifle team. A former classmate said Cruz had anger management problems and often joked about guns and gun violence, including "shooting up establishments". A 2016 graduate's brother described him as "super stressed out all the time and talked about guns a lot and tried to hide his face". A current student said, "I think everyone had in their minds if anybody was going to do it, it was going to be him." A classmate assigned to work with him in sophomore year said, "He told me how he got kicked out of two private schools. He was held back twice. He had aspirations to join the military. He enjoyed hunting." Cruz also bragged about killing animals. A neighbor said Cruz's mother would call the police over to the house to try to "talk some sense" into him. Broward County Sheriff Scott Israel described Cruz's online profiles and accounts as "very, very disturbing". They contained numerous pictures and posts of him with a variety of weapons, including long knives, a shotgun, a pistol, and a BB gun. The Florida Department of Children and Families investigated Cruz in September 2016 for Snapchat posts in which he cut both his arms and said he planned to buy a gun. State investigators reported Cruz had depression, autism, and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, and assessed that he was not a risk. Cruz's YouTube videos included violent threats, such as "I wanna die Fighting killing s**t ton of people", threats against police officers and Antifa, and an admiration of the University of Texas tower shooting. He left a comment on another user's YouTube video on September 24, 2017, stating "I'm going to be a professional school shooter", which prompted the user to report him to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). According to FBI agent Robert Lasky, the FBI was unable to identify the commenter after conducting database reviews and checks. Police said Cruz holds "extremist" views and social media accounts believed to be linked to him contain anti-black and anti-Muslim slurs. In a private Instagram group he titled "Murica (American flag emoji) (eagle emoji) great", he advocated killing Mexicans, blacks, and gays. According to CNN, Cruz said that his hate for black people was "simply because they were black"; he referred to white women in interracial relationships as traitors, and he also expressed anti-immigration and antisemitism, the latter in respect to his biological mother. Legal proceedings: At his arraignment before Judge Kim Theresa Mollica on February 15, Cruz was charged with 17 counts of premeditated murder and ordered held without bond. If convicted of capital murder by a jury, he could face the death penalty. According to an affidavit by the Broward County Sheriff's Office, he confessed to the shooting, stating that he brought additional loaded magazines hidden in a backpack. The public defender's office said he will plead guilty if the death penalty is taken off the table. The chief public defender in Broward County said that it is not yet known if Cruz's attorneys will seek an insanity defense. Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi said she is certain prosecutors will seek the death penalty. Aftermath: First responders established a triage tent outside the school. The school district provided grief counseling to students and their families. Additionally, Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi said costs of funerals and counseling would be covered by the state. At least three counties of Florida and Virginia increased police presence at schools on February 15 in response to the shooting. The building where the shooting took place will be torn down. Cruz was placed on suicide watch in an isolation cell.