An expelled former student armed with a powerful assault rifle unleashed a hail of gunfire in a Florida high school, killing at least 17 people and injuring 15 others, including an Indian-American student, in one of the grizzliest mass shootings in the US.
The 19-year-old suspect identified as Nikolas Cruz, a former student at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland who was expelled for disciplinary reasons, was arrested shortly after the deadly rampage yesterday.
The school has a large number of Indian-American students and at least one student from the community sustained minor injures after he was hit by splinters.
The ninth grader is being treated at a hospital.
Cruz was a troubled teenager who posted disturbing material on social media before the shooting spree, officials said.
"This is a terrible day for Parkland," Broward County Sheriff Scott Israel said, speaking of the city of about 30,000 people, located 80 kilometers north of Miami.
"Nicolas Cruz was the killer. He is in custody. We already began to dissect his websites and social media that he was on ... some of the things that come to mind are very, very disturbing," he told reporters in Florida.
He had a variety of gun and violence-related postings on social media sites.
"He had countless magazines, multiple magazines, and at this point, we believe he had one AR-15 rifle," he said.
He was also equipped with a gas mask and smoke grenades.
According to investigators, Cruz pulled the fire alarm to draw people out of classrooms and increase the number of casualties, the CNN reported.
Israel said Cruz was expelled from the school for disciplinary reasons.
"I don't know the specifics," the sheriff said. However, according to media reports, Cruz was expelled last year after a fight with his ex-girlfriend's new boyfriend.
The gunfire began outside the school and continued inside, where 12 of the victims were killed, Israel said. All of those victims have been identified, he said, but no identities will be made public until the families of all of those affected have been notified.
Israel, however, could not confirm the number of victim students.
Authorities said 15 victims were being treated in the hospital. Three of them are in critical condition.
Cruz was set to be booked into jail after being questioned for hours by state and federal authorities.
Cruz was escorted by sheriff's deputies from the Broward Sheriff's headquarters to the county jail in Fort Lauderdale early today, US media reports said.
"This is a sad day for the country and the community. We all Indian-Americans are praying for the victims," Shekar Reddy, whose friend's son was among those injured in the mass shooting, told PTI.
Parkland, with a population of 31,000 in 2016, was named Florida's safest city last year, according to one analysis.
It is the deadliest school shooting since 26 people were killed at Connecticut school Sandy Hook in 2012.
The FBI is assisting local officials in the probe. Federal and local authorities told NBC News that there was no indication that the gunman had an accomplice or accomplices.
President Donald Trump offered his "prayers and condolences to the families of the victims.
"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," Trump tweeted.
The mass shooting incident revived debate over gun control in the US.
Florida Senator Chris Murphy termed it as "a horrific scene" playing out at a high school in South Florida.
"Turn on your television right now, you're going to see scenes of children running for their lives. It's what looks to be the [18]th school shooting in this country, and we have not even hit March," he said on the Senate floor.
The mass shooting, said to be 18th school shooting of the year, have rekindled the debate on the controversial gun control legislation in the US.
Murphy rued at the incident, claiming it was a fallout of "our inaction".
Every day in this country, 46 children are shot, said Congressman Donald M Payne.
"Every day in this country, seven children die from gun violence. Those statistics do not occur in any other high-income country on this planet," he said, urging the members of the US Congress to use their "power to make the world safer for all children."
Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi said another American community is reeling from the horror of gun violence, perpetrated against innocent school children.
"Too many families have lost someone to the senseless epidemic of gun violence. Congress has a moral responsibility to take common-sense action to prevent the daily tragedy of gun violence in communities across America. Enough is enough," Pelosi said.
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