This article is from the source 'guardian' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.

You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/live/2018/feb/14/florida-school-shooting-live-updates-latest-news-marjory-stoneman-douglas

The article has changed 7 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Version 2 Version 3
Florida shooting: 17 confirmed dead in 'horrific' attack on high school – live Florida shooting: 17 confirmed dead in 'horrific' attack on high school – live
(about 2 hours later)
Officials say they have so far identified 12 of the 17 people killed in and around Marjory Stoneman Douglas high school. As they are still in the process of identifying the others, and informing all the families, no names of victims have yet been released.
Sheriff Scott Israel did say a football coach at the school was among those killed. Both adults and children were among the dead, he confirmed.
Donald Trump earlier tweeted his “prayers and condolences” to those affected by the shooting.
It appears the president will not be speaking tonight or possibly tomorrow either about what has taken place in Parkland.
President Trump did not address the nation today after the Florida school shooting and, at least for now, he does not have any public appearances scheduled for tomorrow either
Administration aides tell me that advisors have recommended he say something, but he has opted not to https://t.co/DJp1biO5x7
The suspect, Nikolas Cruz, had reportedly been receiving treatment for mental health issues.
Broward county mayor Beam Furr told CNN that Cruz had previously attended a mental health clinic, but had not been seen there for more than a year:
It wasn’t like there wasn’t concern for him.
We try to keep our eyes out on those kids who aren’t connected … Most teachers try to steer them toward some kind of connections.
In this case, we didn’t find a way to connect with this kid.
Students who had been at school with suspected gunman Nikolas Cruz, 19, said “everyone predicted” he could “do something” like the tragedy that unfolded on Wednesday afternoon, and that some children had been scared of him.
Cruz had been expelled from Marjory Stoneman Douglas high school in Parkland, Florida, for disciplinary reasons, according to Broward county sheriff Scott Israel.
One student at the school, speaking to CNN but without disclosing his identity, said: “A lot of people were saying that it was going to be him. All the kids joked ... saying he was the one that screwed up at school, but it turns out everyone predicted it. That’s crazy.”
Guardian reporter Oliver Laughland has talked to students at the school about the suspect, who has been named by police as Nikolas Cruz:
Dakota Mutchler, a 17-year-old junior at the school, said he used to be friends with the suspect, but that Cruz started “progressively getting a little more weird, and I kind of cut off from him”.
Mutchler said Cruz posted about killing animals on social media and talked about guns and target practice.
“Everyone in the school that knew him speculated about him,” said Mutchler. “When someone’s expelled, you don’t really expect them to come back … If they’re expelled, they’re gone. But of course, he came back.”
Mutchler added that he stopped communicating with the suspect after “he started going after one of my friends and threatening her”.
Victoria Olvera, also a 17-year-old junior, said of the suspect: “At first, he was really nice.”
But later, she said: “He just changed. As far as I knew, he was like a future school shooter.”
We have an update on those who were taken to hospitals after the shooting.
Seventeen victims were taken to Broward Health medical center and Broward Health North.
Of those, two died in hospital. They are counted among the 17 dead.
Five remain in life-threatening condition on Wednesday night.
Ten remain in hospital with injuries that are not life-threatening.
The killer was also taken to hospital for treatment after his arrest, but was subsequently released into police custody.
Sheriff Scott Israel adds:
If a person is predisposed to commit such a horrific event … if a person is committed to committing great carnage … there’s not a lot law enforcement can do about it.
We have to be able to mitigate, we have to be able to respond quickly.
He says more money needs to go to treating mental health issues.
Israel says that, in his view, people with mental health illnesses should not be allowed to use, own or purchase a handgun.
“We are in the process of identifying these children and adults,” Israel says.
Only 12 of the 17 have been identified so far, he says, partly because many of the students did not have ID on them when they were found. Many had left their backpacks and cellphones behind as they tried to escape or hide.
Sheriff Scott Israel says a football coach at the high school is among those who were killed. He does not name the coach.
Israel says the son of one of his deputy sheriffs was shot in the arm and is currently receiving treatement for non-life-threatening injuries.
Florida attorney general Pam Bondi says she has spoken to a survivor of a previous mass shooting who told her she could not believe such a horror was happening again.
Bondi says the state of Florida will pay for funerals for all victims, and counselling for survivors.
Governor Rick Scott speaks next. He says it is natural after such horrific events to ask how it could happen. The explanation, he says, is “absolutely pure evil”.
“This state does not tolerate violence,” Scott adds.
He says he will be going directly to the hospital after this press conference.
We will provide whatever resources are needed, whatever we can.
Runcie says the shooter was a former student at Marjory Stoneman Douglas high school and was currently enrolled in Broward country public schools. He says he can’t give further details.
Robert Runcie, the schools superintendent for Broward county, says no parent should ever send their child to school and have them not return.
It should not happen. It should not happen in Parkland, or anywhere.
Runcie says the school will be closed for the rest of the week. Grief counselling will be available to all students and their families, he adds.
Sheriff Scott Israel is speaking at a press briefing. He says the day has made him “sick to my stomach”.
He says 12 of the 17 victims have been identified, but their names will not be made public until their families have been informed.
Florida senator Marco Rubio of Florida says he is “devastated and saddened” by the attack, adding that he hoped investigators would swiftly find out why the killer “carried out this carnage”.
The New York Daily News is among several on social media to point out that Rubio – like a number of other politicians offering their thoughts and prayers to today’s victims – received large donations from gun rights groups including the NRA.
As the #thoughtsandprayers roll in, here's a list of top recipients of campaign donations from gun rights groups in the 2015-2016 campaign cycle:@RepMcSally: $77,063@PatToomey: $79,908@marcorubio: $90,205@SenRonJohnson: $165,498@SpeakerRyan: $176,927 https://t.co/HqZPFqNPTz
Former Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, who survived a shooting attack in 2011, commented:
Defenders of the status quo - advocates of the gun industry and the politicians paid to defend it – will tell you that events like these are virtual acts of nature, products of mental illness or bad parenting, beyond our ability to control. This couldn’t be further from the truth.
Every day we fail to take action, we chose this fate. We tolerate politicians who fail to acknowledge this crisis and vote against our safety. We let our gun violence epidemic continue day after deadly day …
The question now is if we will find the courage to pass the laws we need to protect our children, to stop dangerous people from accessing guns. And if Congress won’t act, American voters must.
My colleague Oliver Laughland is at the scene:
I’m at the Heron Bay Mariott Hotel where many of the students are being housed as they reunite with family. pic.twitter.com/5wtmiQR8bC
“It’s not real,” said 17 year-old Victoria Olvera. She hasn’t heard from one of her close classmates & worries she may didn’t made it out.
The killing of 17 people today in Parkland puts this as the eighth deadliest mass shooting in modern US history.The killing of 17 people today in Parkland puts this as the eighth deadliest mass shooting in modern US history.
The 1999 massacre at Columbine high school – in which 13 people, as well as the two perpetrators, were killed – no longer makes the top 10.The 1999 massacre at Columbine high school – in which 13 people, as well as the two perpetrators, were killed – no longer makes the top 10.
I've updated this @teamtrace graphic three times in the past five months. pic.twitter.com/T7QfqQ9zHnI've updated this @teamtrace graphic three times in the past five months. pic.twitter.com/T7QfqQ9zHn
Melissa Falkowski, a teacher at the high school, has been speaking to CNN about the shocking events of the day.
Drills for a code red (active shooter) situation had been well rehearsed, she said.
We could not have been more prepared for this situation … we have trained for this, we have trained the kids for what to do …
We did everything that we were supposed to do.
I feel today like our government, our country, has failed us and failed our kids and didn’t keep us safe.
Falkowski detailed what happened when the fire alarm went off on Wednesday afternoon – the second of the day after a drill in the morning:
It was fourth period … I was working with the kids, making the school newspaper, when the fire alarm went off.
We just followed the protocol: when the fire alarm goes off, we have to evacuate.
We make it out of my room into the hallway … the security guard posted in our area said no, it’s a code red, go back.
We were yelling at kids in the hallway to go back, to go inside.
She said she and 19 students huddled in a closet while the shooting unfolded around them.
I just tried to keep them calm, tell them everything is going to be OK, just hold them together. You just do the best you can for the kids that you’re supposed to keep safe.
Falkowski said her own students are safe, but she does not yet know which of her colleagues and other students have been killed or injured.
Associated Press reports that the gunman wore a gas mask and carried smoke grenades, although it is unclear at this stage whether these were used.
Florida senator Bill Nelson said he had been briefed by the FBI on the details of the attack, adding that the killer “set off the fire alarm so the kids would come pouring out of the classrooms into the hall. And there the carnage began.”
House speaker Paul Ryan has issued a statement on the shooting:
This is an unspeakable tragedy. It is nothing short of true evil to attack innocent children.
While we now wait to learn more, we are so grateful to law enforcement and all those who brought this horror to an end.
Let us all keep the victims in our hearts. A long night lies ahead for many families. Right now, the whole country is standing with the Parkland community.
Chris Murphy, senator for Connecticut – site of the 2012 Sandy Hook school shooting, in which 26 children and adults were killed – made an emotional speech to the Senate earlier on Wednesday:
This happens nowhere else other than the United States of America. This epidemic of mass slaughter, this scourge of school shooting after school shooting.
It only happens here not because of coincidence, not because of bad luck, but as a consequence of our inaction.
We are responsible.
Watch the speech here:
Sixteen people wounded in the shooting were taken to hospitals in the area.
Eight victims and the suspect, Nikolas Cruz, were taken to Broward Health North. Dr Evan Boyar said two of those victims died at the hospital, three remain in critical condition, and three are stable. All had been shot.
The suspect is now in police custody after treatment.
Eight other injured victims were taken to separate hospitals. There is no information on their condition at this point.
The sheriff’s office has clarified the spelling of the suspect’s name as Nikolas Cruz (it had previously referred to him as Nikolaus).
Correction: suspect’s name is spelled Nikolas Cruz #StonemanShooting
The spelling in earlier posts in this live blog will now be corrected in line with this fresh information.
Investigators are appealing for those who have images and video of the attack to send it to them:
The @FBI has set up a website where you can upload images and video of the #stonemanshooting. Visit https://t.co/7k6vAb5Csa to submit any information you have on the shooting that occurred at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.
This is Claire Phipps picking up the live blog for continuing coverage.
In an interview with CNN, another former student at the high school – who was not named – said he knew the suspect Nikolas Cruz:
He was kicked out of school last year. He always had guns on him. There was a lot of crazy stuff that he did, just not right for school.
He got kicked out of school multiple times. He carried multiple guns. He showed me his guns.
Actually I was kicked out of school myself and I saw what guns he had. He showed me personally. Often the kids wouldn’t pick on him because they knew what could go on. They were scared at the time.
A lot of people were saying that it was going to be him. All the kids joked and like that saying he was the one that screwed up at school but it turns out everyone predicted it. That’s crazy.
He knew the school layout. He knew where everyone would be. He’s been to the fire drills. He was prepared for this.
Here’s what we have learned from the sheriff’s office and hospital officials so far:
Seventeen people have been confirmed dead, including students and adults.
Other victims have been taken to hospitals for treatment, and at least three are in critical condition.
Twelve of the victims were killed inside the building, two outside, one in the street and two died later in the hospital.
The suspect was identified as Nikolas Cruz, a 19-year-old who had been expelled from Stoneman Douglas high school.
Police said Cruz had “countless magazines” and an an AR-15 assault rifle.
The suspect was apprehended outside of the school and taken into custody without incident.
The shooting appears to be the eighth school shooting of the year that has involved injury or death.
Police found “very, very disturbing” material when searching Cruz’s social media.
None of the victims have been identified.
The tragedy appears to be the eighth deadliest mass shooting in contemporary US history, according to data on public mass shootings compiled by Mother Jones. The database tracks public mass shootings since 1982 with four or more victims killed.