WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - At least 17 people, including students, were killed and 15 others wounded in a South Florida high school Wednesday afternoon after an expelled teenager returned to campus and opened fire with an assault rifle. Police said they arrested the shooting suspect, identified as Nicolas Cruz.
Broward County Sheriff Scott Israel told reporters that the content that the police saw on his websites and social media networks are 'very, very disturbing.'
Cruz, 19, was expelled from the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, for disciplinary reasons.
The school was about to close for the day when the killer emerged.
Police said Cruz killed three people before entering the school building, and then walked the halls wielding an AR-15 and multiple magazines. Senator Bill Nelson was quoted as saying that Cruz pulled a fire alarm and then, wearing a gas mask, began tossing smoke bombs and shooting people as they ran through the haze.
Police subdued the attacker as he was trying to escape with fleeing students.
It was the worst school shooting in Florida history, and the deadliest in the United States since 26 people were killed at Connecticut school Sandy Hook in 2012.
This is the sixth school shooting incident in the country in just seven weeks into the year.
President Donald Trump offered prayers and condolences to the families of the victims of the shooting.
'No child, teacher or anyone else should ever feel unsafe in an American school' he said on Twitter.
Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX