Suspected Parkland, Florida High School shooter Nikolas Cruz, 19, who has been charged with 17 premeditated murders and injuring dozens was arraigned this afternoon. Cruz who was an expelled student at the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School had entered the premises at approximately 2 PM ET Wednesday afternoon. He was wearing a gas mask and carrying an AR-15 rifle and preceded to set off the school's fire alarm, luring students into the hallways. He then opened fired. If Cruz is convicted he could face the death penalty.

The names and ages of the victims of the deadly shooting have been released.

The students killed are Alyssa Alhdeff, 14, Meadow Pollack, 18, Luke Hoyer, 15, Gina Montalto, 14, Peter Wang, 15, Nicholas Dworet, 17, Jamie Guttenberg, 14, Carmen Schentrup, 16, Alex Schachter, 14, Alaina Petty, 14, Helena Ramsey, 17, Martin Duque Anguiano, 14, Joaquin Oliver, 17, and Cara Loughran, 14. School staff who were killed are Christopher Hixon, school athlete director 49, Scott Beigel, geography teacher, 35, and Aaron Feis, assistant football coach, 37, Time reports.

Broward County Sheriff Scott Israel stated that Cruz, it has been confirmed, obtained the weapon legally. He had passed all backgrounds at the time of the purchase. Israel went on to state that Cruz’s social media pages are disturbing, reported The Independent.

According to Robert Lasky, special agent of the FBI, the department had been warmed abut Cruz twice, approximately five months before the shooting. According to CNN, they had received a tip from an unidentified person about a Youtube account. The person had reported that Nicolas Cruz had said he was going to be a "professional school shooter."

Ben Bennight had also contacted the FBI about Cruz's Youtube account, said CNN, and he tried emailing screenshots of Cruz's Youtube account but had an invalid email address for them and ended up calling them.

Bennight was interviewed at the time of his report but never heard anything from the FBI again until the mass shooting happened.

It is believed that Cruz was a lone shooter. He has been described as having disciplinary problems and had a fascination for weapons. Florida Gov. Rick Scott during a press conference stated, "this is just absolutely pure evil,” according to Star TV.

President Trump

President Trump Tweeted and addressed the nation about the shooting. He stated, "In times of tragedy, the bonds that sustain us are those of family, faith, community, and country." Trump also went on to state, “no child or teacher should ever be in danger in an American school." President Trump did not address gun control but did discuss mental illness on Twitter. He blamed Cruz's mental illness for what happened and want's something done about the problem, but did not elaborate further.

There were many warning signs but nothing really was done about it before it was too late. Time and time again across our nation mass shootings are becoming a regular occurrence. In the last five years since the deadly Sandy Hook shooting, December 2012 in Newtown, Connecticut, there have been an estimated 273 school shootings and 138 people who have been killed, according to the Gun Violence Archive, reported by the New York Times.

President Trump has also ordered a proclamation in honor of the victims of Parkland, Florida. Trump has ordered all flags to be flown at half-mast until February 19, said The White House.

Nikolas Cruz

Nikolas Cruz, 19, had recently been expelled from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School and had been attending an alternative high school in Florida, He had also been a member of U.S.

Army JROTC till he had been expelled. He had also been known to be a class clown but it was no surprise to students that he was the shooter. Students believed if there was ever an incident in school that it would be Cruz who did it. It is believed that Cruz had been receiving treatment for mental illness in the past but had stopped attending.

According to the New York Times, Cruz had been living with a friend of the family after his adopted mother recently passed away November 2017 and was not happy. Cruz’s adoptive father also passed away when he was young. He also was working part-time at the Dollar Store.

CBS reports that Jordan Jereb, leader of a white nationalist militia has confirmed that Cruz was a member of his group but acted on his own.

They also believe that Cruz might have had trouble with a girl and that is why he attacked on Valentine's Day. The motive for the shooting is unknown at this time. Law enforcement will continue to investigate.
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