Florida shooting: At least 17 dead in high school attack

[Anthea]

Florida shooting: Casualties reported as suspect arrested

Police in Parkland, Florida, have arrested a suspect after responding to a major shooting incident at a local high school.

More than an hour after the shooting began, the Broward Sherriff's Office said the "shooter is now in custody."

But it warned that the scene at Stoneman Douglas High School "is still active".

School superintendent Robert Runcie told reporters: "there are fatalities involved here."

He also said the suspect was "potentially a former student… that individual, we believe, is in custody."

"So far we have at least 14 victims," the Sherriff's department said, without specifying their condition.

US media outlets reported that up to 20 people may have been injured, while some have been evacuated.

A local Fox news affiliate reported seeing several people being treated for injuries outside the school.

Meanwhile, Florida Senator Bill Nelson told Fox News there were "many deaths", citing conversations with the school superintendent, the FBI, and the undersheriff.

The local public school district tweeted: "Today, close to Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School's dismissal, students and staff heard what sounded like gunfire."

"The school immediately went on lockdown but is now dismissing students. We are receiving reports of possible multiple injuries," it said.

As the situation unfolded, helicopter footage appeared to show a person being handcuffed and placed in the back of a police car.

Coral Springs Police department tweeted instructions to teachers and students to "remain barricaded inside until police reach you".

The FBI also said it was attending the scene and assisting local law enforcement.

US television networks reported large numbers of parents had gathered outside the police perimeter.

One student evacuated from the school told CBS that Miami students had thought the sound of gunshots was a drill.

"We already had one earlier this morning... and then we heard gunshots; some students thought it was not that serious."

President Donald Trump tweeted condolences "to the families of the victims". White House Deputy Press Secretary Lindsay Walters said the president had been briefed and that the White House was monitoring the situation.

Florida Governor Rick Scott said he spoke to President Trump about the shooting, and was continuing to receive updates from law enforcement.

Congressman Ted Deutch, the district's representative, tweeted: "I'm sick about this news from home. Just spoke with the sheriff. This is devastating."

He said it was an "incredible school in my district - great teachers and staff, involved parents and amazing kids. Spoke with the kids there just a few weeks back."

Students were taken by bus to a "staging area" on Heron Bay Blvd, Coral Springs, where their parents could collect them.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-43066226

[Anthea]

Local Source: sun-sentinel.com:

Multiple deaths in South Florida high school shooting
David Fleshler, Lisa J. Huriash, Linda Trischitta, Aric Chokey

Multiple deaths were reported Wednesday as gunfire broke out at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, with a suspect reported in custody.

Coral Springs Mayor Skip Campbell, whose city contracts fire service in Parkland, confirms there were "multiple fatalities."

There were 14 victims, according to the Broward Sheriff’s Office. The agency did not say how many were fatalities.

A man in custody, wearing a red shirt, black pants and black boots, was seen being placed on a gurney.

FBI agents were on the scene interviewing students asking for anyone who saw the shooter.

“You’re ok!” One student said as she cried hugged her friend who had just come out. “You’re safe now, don’t worry.”

Samuel Dykes, a freshman, was on the third floor of the school when he said he heard gunshots, and saw several bodies in a classroom.

SWAT told the class to keep their eyes forward as they exited the school, Dykes said.

At around dismissal time at 2:40 p.m., staff and students heard what sounded like gunfire and they enacted a “code red” lock down, according to the Broward School District.

A television news helicopter report showed several people on gurneys being placed into into fire rescue ambulances and groups of children walking across Northwest Pine Island Road. Television news cameras showed a young man with reddish hair wearing a red shirt who was surrounded by SWAT officers and put in handcuffs and being taken into custody.
Parkland school shooting location

“It’s a horrific situation,” Broward County Superintendent Robert Runcie said. “It’s just a horrible day for us.”

Students were streaming down Pine Island Road at 3:30. Some of them crying, some were talking on cell phones.

Meghan Walton's mascara was running as she walked down Pine Island Road with her mother.Derval Walton. She was waiting in the car line to pick her 15 year old freshman daughter up when she got the ominous text from her: "Code Red"

"Kids were running out full of blood," Derval Walton said. "Kids were falling in the grass."

Hannah Siren, 14, was in math class on the third floor.

"The people next door to us must have not locked their door," she said, breaking into tears. "They all got shot"

How many?

"10 or ... 7"

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

Deputy White House Press Secretary Lindsay Walters said, “We are monitoring the situation,” she said. “Our thoughts and prayers are with those affected.”

Gov. Rick Scott announced plans to come to Broward County immediately. He spoke on the phone with Broward Sheriff Scott Israel, Broward schools superintendent Robert Runcie and Florida Department of Law Enforcement Commissioner Rick Swearingen, according to the governor’s office.

There are 3,208 children in grades 9 — 12 enrolled at the school.

Parents at area schools — including Sawgrass Springs Middle School and Westglades Middle School — said they received texts that those campuses were locked down.

Jay Golden, of Parkland, has a daughter Rachel who was at the school when the first sign of problem came. Rachel, a senior, texted him that there was a Code Red, a shooting, and she didn’t know if it was real or a drill.

At 3 p.m. she still hadn’t been evacuated from the 900 building, but told her father she was safe with 40 other students and a teacher.

“She was crying, she’s scared,” he said. “She’s been texting back and forth. She’s OK at the moment.”

“I’m freaking out,” her father said. “This is crazy, this stuff shouldn’t be going on in these schools. People are crazy. I don’t know what goes on through these people’s minds these days, it’s a scary thing. It’s one of those things - you don’t want to put a metal protector and treat them like prisoners but they have to figure something out. You put your kids in school and it’s supposed to be a safe place and this stuff happens all the time.”

Anne Geggis contributed to this report.

ljtrischitta@sunsentinel.com, 954-356-4233 or Twitter @LindaTrischitta

ALSO

www.sunsentinel.com/safety

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/local/browa ... story.html

[Anthea]

Florida shooting: At least 17 dead in high school attack

At least 17 people are dead after a 19-year-old man opened fire at a high school campus in Parkland, Florida, police have said.

The suspect has been named as Nikolas Cruz, 19, and is a former student at the school who had been expelled.

As the attack unfolded students were forced to hide as police swooped in on the building.

It is one of the deadliest school shootings since 26 people were killed at a Connecticut school in 2012.

Broward County Sheriff Scott Israel told reporters Cruz killed three people outside the school, before entering the building and killing another 12.

Two people later died after being taken to hospital.

"It's catastrophic. There really are no words," Sheriff Israel tweeted later.

Dr Evan Boyar of Broward Health told reporters late on Wednesday that 17 people total had been taken to area hospitals.

He added that Mr Cruz was among those treated and was released into police custody. Three people remained in a critical condition and three others were in stable condition, he said.

The victims are still being identified. Sheriff Israel said a football coach was among the dead but no names have been released.

How the attack unfolded

On Wednesday, the local public school district tweeted that "students and staff heard what sounded like gunfire" just before the end of the day at the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.

Witnesses said that the suspect pulled a fire alarm before the violence erupted.

Police and SWAT team members swarmed the campus and began clearing students from the school in Parkland, about an hour north of Miami, as parents and ambulances converged on the scene.

Mr Cruz, who had been expelled for "disciplinary reasons", was taken into custody without incident in the nearby town of Coral Springs about an hour after he left the high school, according to police.

"We have already begun to dissect his websites and things on social media that he was on and some of the things... are very, very disturbing," Sheriff Israel said.

"Just a horrible day for us," said Robert Runcie, the superintendent of the county's school district.

'Worst nightmare'

Many students said they thought it was a drill after hearing the fire alarm go off shortly before the shooting.

Students told US media they hid under desks, in closets or barricaded doors as loud shots rang out.

One student, Bailey Vosberg, said: "I heard what sounded like fireworks and I looked at my friend and he asked me if I heard that."

"Immediately, I knew. I didn't say anything to him, I just hopped over the fence and I went straight to the road that our school is located on - and as I got there there was just Swat cars and police units, police vehicles just flying by, helicopters over the top of us."

Caesar Figueroa, a parent, told CBS News his daughter was hiding in a closet when she called him.

He told the news outlet earlier that he told her not to call him because he did not want the gunman to hear her voice.

"It's the worst nightmare not hearing from my daughter for 20 minutes, it was the longest 20 minutes of my life," Mr Figeuroa said.

A teacher told WSVN that she hid in a closet with 19 students for 40 minutes - and that the school had undergone training for such a situation six weeks ago.

What's the reaction been?

Florida Senator Marco Rubio tweeted that the shooting was "designed & executed to maximize loss of life".

President Donald Trump also tweeted condolences.

Congressman Ted Deutch, the district's representative, tweeted: "I'm sick about this news from home. Just spoke with the sheriff. This is devastating."

He said it was an "incredible school in my district - great teachers and staff, involved parents and amazing kids. Spoke with the kids there just a few weeks back."

How does it compare with previous school shootings?

Wednesday's attack is at least the 18th shooting in the US this year on or around school premises, according to research by Everytown for Gun Safety.

It is the sixth school shooting incident in 2018 that has either wounded or killed students, according to the advocacy website.

It is thought to be one of the worst shootings since 2012, when gunman Adam Lanza attacked Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut.

He shot dead 20 young children and six adults before killing himself.

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