'Numerous fatalities' at Florida high school after ex-student opens fire

[webfact]

'Numerous fatalities' at Florida high school after ex-student opens fire

By Bernie Woodall

 

Rescue workers prepare to transport a victim on a stretcher near Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School following a shooting incident in Parkland, Florida, U.S. February 14, 2018 in this still image taken from a video. WSVN.com via REUTERS

 

PARKLAND, Fla. (Reuters) - A former student at a Florida high school opened fire in the school on Wednesday, causing "numerous fatalities" and wounding at least 14 people before he was arrested by police, authorities said.

 

Shortly before dismissal at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, about 45 miles (72 km) north of Miami, the attack sent hundreds of panicked students fleeing into the streets while dozens of police and emergency services personnel swarmed the area.

"There are numerous fatalities. It's a horrific situation," Broward Country Schools Superintendent Robert Runcie told reporters.

 

Rescue workers prepare to transport a victim on a stretcher near Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School following a shooting incident in Parkland, Florida, U.S. February 14, 2018 in this still image taken from a video. WSVN.com via REUTERS

 

The gunman, about 18 years old, surrendered to police quietly, said Broward County Sheriff Scott Israel.

 

"It's catastrophic," he said. "There really are no words."

 

Fourteen wounded people were transported to area hospitals, Israel told a press conference said. He added that police in tactical gear were still searching the school for victims.

 

Israel offered few details on the shooter's identity or motive.

 

"There was a time when he did attend the school," Israel said. "I don't know why he left, I don't know when he left."

 

It was the 18th shooting in a U.S. school so far this year, according to gun control group Everytown for Gun Safety. That tally includes suicides and incidents when no one was injured, as well as the January incident when a 15-year-old gunman killed two students at a Benton, Kentucky, high school.

 

More than five years have passed since a gunman killed 20 first graders and six educators in Newtown, Connecticut, stirring the long U.S. debate about gun rights, which are protected by the Second Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.

 

SCENES OF FEAR

 

Staff and students told local media that a fire alarm went off around the time the shooting started, sparking chaos as some 3,000 students at the school first headed into hallways before teachers herded them back into classrooms, to seek shelter in closets.

 

Kyle Yeoward, a 16-year-old junior, told Reuters he was in the bathroom on the second floor of the building on the campus where most of the shooting took place, when he heard two shots.

 

"He let loose on the freshman building," Yeoward said.

 

McKenzie Hartley, 19, who identified herself as the sister of a student at the school described the scene in a text message to Reuters: "She heard him shooting through the windows of classrooms and two students were shot."

 

Panicked parents checked on their children.

 

"It is just absolutely horrifying. I can't believe this is happening," Lissette Rozenblat, whose daughter goes to the school, told CNN. Her daughter called her to say she was safe but the student also told her mother she heard the cries of a person who was shot.

 

"She was very nervous. She said that she could hear the person who was shot crying out for help," she said.

 

Televised images showed dozens of students, their arms in the air, weaving their way between law enforcement officers with heavy weapons and helmets, and large numbers of emergency vehicles including police cars, ambulances and fire trucks.

 

The school had recently held a meeting to discuss what to do in such an attack, Ryan Gott, a 15-year-old freshman told CNN.

 

"My prayers and condolences to the families of the victims of the terrible Florida shooting," U.S. President Donald Trump said on Twitter. "No child, teacher or anyone else should ever feel unsafe in an American school."

 

(Additional reporting by Steve Gorman, Dan Whitcomb and Alex Dobuzinskis in Los Angeles, Letitia Stein in Detroit and Jon Herskovitz in Austin, Texas; Writing by Scott Malone; Editing by Tom Brown)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2018-02-15

 

[Credo]

A lot of thoughts and prayers being offered by people who are actually in a position to do something about these situations besides JUST thoughts and prayers.   

[faraday]

I am so very sorry for for these children & their devastated parents. The grief most probably gives the word 'profound' a whole new depth of sorrow & pain.

 

[Carib]

It is only the 19th school shooting in 2018. What will happen is that there will be lots of people praying and urging others to do so too,  and after that it will be maybe concentrating on the ethnicity of the shooter if applicable , and than moving on to other diversions. The real problem will not be addressed and school shooting number 20 will happen in a few days time followed by 21 and so on, and so on...

Got kids in school in the US?  Look at the video`s of children running out of the school with their hands up. It could be one of yours. 

 

[saakura]

" Ah but guns dont kill people, only nutters do it" brigade will be here soon. Retards could have saved the lives of hundreds of children and adults.

[samran]

Maybe they could arm the teachers, cause that would totally work!! Start watching at 5:20. 

 

 

Edited February 14, 2018 by samran

[saakura]

1 minute ago, samran said:

Maybe they could arm the teachers, cause that would totally work!!

 

 

And arm the children too? The IRA nutters will be ecstatic with your suggestion!!

[samran]

3 minutes ago, saakura said:

And arm the children too? The IRA nutters will be ecstatic with your suggestion!!

Arm the lot of them. It’s a god gifted right to the American people that they should have access to weapons that can blow the begeezes out of anyone. 

 

Just watch it from start to end.

 

Down with tyranny! Don’t tread on me!!! Taxes are theft! 

 

Let me go watch Fox News and infowars and I’ll be back shortly to tell you why this was Obama’s fault. 

Edited February 14, 2018 by samran

[Somtamnication]

I am sure the NRA will have some sort of positive spin on this incident. RIP to all. 17 at last count.

[Berkshire]

Ho hum, another mass shooting in America, double digit deaths...kids.  We'll get a bunch of meaningless "thoughts and prayers" from politicians, but NOTHING will be done.  Many more mass shootings to come. 

[Samui Bodoh]

41 minutes ago, webfact said:

"It's catastrophic," he said. "There really are no words."

Yes, there are words.

 

Stop promoting a culture of guns and start implementing policies to keep guns away from people who shouldn't have them.

 

42 minutes ago, webfact said:

It was the 18th shooting in a U.S. school so far this year

When you have 18 school shootings in a year (so far), it is time to admit that you have a serious problem, and that the steps you have taken to date are not working.

 

To all the gun people out there; 

 

HOW MANY MORE UNTIL YOU SUPPORT SOME CHANGES TO GUN LAWS?

 

[Guest]

NRA retweeted this earlier.. and then the tweet was removed.

 

 

https://twitter.com/igorvolsky/status/963900995620261889

 

[JemJem]

Tragic !

 

By the way, I have just googled the shooter's name; and, this link gives quite a bit of info about him and also about his capture :

 

https://heavy.com/news/2018/02/nicolas-nikolas-nick-cruz-florida-school-shooter-gunman-instagram/

[LennyW]

This is only 15th February and 18 school shootings this year so far......wake up America!!

[gravity101]

13 minutes ago, oilinki said:

NRA retweeted this earlier.. and then the tweet was removed.

 

 

https://twitter.com/igorvolsky/status/963900995620261889

 

NRA promoting violence and division. normal day at the office for these folks.

[NumbNut]

Meanwhile, back at the ranch...

 

Remington Bankruptcy

 

How can a gun manufacturing company in the US go broke? Especially one with a pedigree like Remington?

[samran]

13 minutes ago, Boon Mee said:

Big negitivo on that bud.

 

They (the Dems) are already blaming Trump for this latest carnage.

Defending the indefensible. Keep on digging! 

[webfact]

BREAKING UPDATE

 

Ex-student kills 17 in shooting spree at Florida high school

By Bernie Woodall

 

A man placed in handcuffs is led by police near Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School following a shooting incident in Parkland, Florida, U.S. February 14, 2018 in a still image taken from a video. WSVN.com via REUTERS.

 

PARKLAND, Fla. (Reuters) - A 19-year-old gunman returned to a Florida high school where he had once been expelled for disciplinary reasons and opened fire with an assault-style rifle on Wednesday, killing 17 people before he was arrested by police, authorities said.

 

The violence erupted shortly before dismissal at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, about 45 miles (72 km) north of Miami. Live television footage showed students streaming out of the building as dozens of police and emergency services personnel swarmed the area.

 

The gunman was identified as Nikolaus Cruz, who previously attended the school and was expelled for unspecified disciplinary reasons, Broward County Sheriff Scott Israel said at a news briefing hours later. Officially initially misspelled the suspect's first name as Nikolas but later corrected it.

 

"It's a horrific situation," Broward County Schools Superintendent Robert Runcie told reporters separately.

 

The gunman surrendered to police without a struggle, Israel said. Investigators believe he was armed with an AR-15-style rifle and had multiple magazines of ammunition, according to the sheriff.

 

"It's catastrophic," Israel said. "There really are no words."

 

Twelve of the dead were killed inside the school, two others just outside, one more on the street and two other victims died of their injuries at a hospital, Israel said. He said the victims comprised a mixture of students and adults.

 

The Valentine's Day bloodshed in the Miami suburb of gated communities with palm- and shrub-lined streets was the latest outbreak of gun violence that has become a regular occurrence at schools and college campuses across the United States over the past several years.

 

It was the 18th shooting in a U.S. school so far this year, according to gun control group Everytown for Gun Safety. That tally includes suicides and incidents when no one was injured, as well as the January shooting in which a 15-year-old gunman killed two fellow students at a Benton, Kentucky, high school.

 

SCENES OF FEAR

 

Staff and students told local media that a fire alarm went off around the time the shooting started, sparking chaos as some 3,300 students at the school first headed into hallways before teachers herded them back into classrooms, to seek shelter in closets.

 

Kyle Yeoward, a 16-year-old junior, told Reuters he was in the bathroom on the second floor of a building when he heard two shots.

 

"He let loose on the freshman building," Yeoward said.

 

CBS News posted a brief clip of cell phone video footage the network said was taken from inside a classroom, showing what appeared to be several students. A rapid series of loud gunshots are heard amid hysterical screaming and someone yelling, “Oh my God.”

 

McKenzie Hartley, 19, who identified herself as the sister of a student at the school described the scene in a text message to Reuters: "She heard him shooting through the windows of classrooms and two students were shot."

 

Anguished parents checked on their children.

 

"It is just absolutely horrifying. I can't believe this is happening," Lissette Rozenblat, whose daughter goes to the school, told CNN. Her daughter called her to say she was safe but the student also told her mother she heard the cries of a person who was shot.

 

Televised images showed dozens of students, their arms in the air, weaving their way between law enforcement officers with heavy weapons and helmets, and large numbers of emergency vehicles including police cars, ambulances and fire trucks.

 

The school had recently held a meeting to discuss what to do in such an attack, Ryan Gott, a 15-year-old freshman told CNN.

 

"My prayers and condolences to the families of the victims of the terrible Florida shooting," U.S. President Donald Trump said on Twitter. "No child, teacher or anyone else should ever feel unsafe in an American school."

 

(Additional reporting by Steve Gorman, Dan Whitcomb and Alex Dobuzinskis in Los Angeles, Letitia Stein in Detroit and Jon Herskovitz in Austin, Texas; Writing by Scott Malone; Editing by Tom Brown and Lisa Shumaker)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2018-02-15

[stevenl]

26 minutes ago, NumbNut said:

Meanwhile, back at the ranch...

 

Remington Bankruptcy

 

How can a gun manufacturing company in the US go broke? Especially one with a pedigree like Remington?

Because Trump got elected, taking away the fear of gun control. The fear of gun control increases gun sales.

[Guest]

AR-15 vs school kids results are in: 17-0

AR-15 wins every time. Thoughts and prayers doesn't really help people in real world.

 

[PremiumLane]

52 minutes ago, Boon Mee said:

Big negitivo on that bud.

 

They (the Dems) are already blaming Trump for this latest carnage.

Well that excuse for a human being, Alex Jones, is already saying it might be a false flag that was organised by Dems.

 

And this is the man that is trusted by your president... how screwed are you then

Edited February 15, 2018 by PremiumLane

[wayned]

I guarantee when Trump finally says something he will not talk about gun control, but will quickly home in on the killers last name, CRUZ!  I bet Stephen Miller is frantically searching his background right now in hopes that he is here illegally or a result of "chain Migration" or the "lottery".

[lannarebirth]

3 minutes ago, wayned said:

I guarantee when Trump finally says something he will not talk about gun control, but will quickly home in on the killers last name, CRUZ!  I bet Stephen Miller is frantically searching his background right now in hopes that he is here illegally or a result of "chain Migration" or the "lottery".

I'm sure that is exactly what is currently happening.

[gk10002000]

I live in North Palm Beach, FL, north of there.  Don't know that area much or the school.   Sounds like he sounded the fire alarm and as the classroom doors opened and the kids ran into the halls, he took his shots.  bastard

[rodney earl]

I feel for All of the victims and their families when something like this happens but praying is like sitting in a rocking chair, it gives you something to do but does not achieve anything.!!

[Emster23]

"It was the 18th shooting in a U.S. school so far this year "

So one every other day almost. It could become an everyday thing and still the gun nuts would dig in heels, arguing guns only means to prevent tyranny in government. When vast majority of Americans support reasonable gun laws, (making gun license as difficult as getting drivers license, for example) and nothing happens, seems those guns rights folks are ones engaging in form of tyranny preventing will of American people to be reflected in law

[lannarebirth]

24 minutes ago, jvs said:

I hope you do not mean that .It looks like many Americans are accepting these shootings in a similar way as Thai people accept traffic deaths.

Part of life,nothing can(we don't want to)be done about it.

Guns don;t kill people,just an interesting fact that in most European countries(where people have no guns)there are no mass shootings on a regular basis.Don't give me the 'only criminals will have guns 'either that one is getting really old and worn out.

Instead of praying for the victims,do something about it.

I think Trump is happy this guy is one of the bad people,he appears to be from Mexican origin.

 

There is something that can be done about it but it requires a Constitutional Convention. Executive Orders aren't going to do anything, and whatever law Congress may pass likely wouldn't survive a Supreme Court action. Call your state legislator and get him working on it, but we careful what you wish for as they may just open Pandora's Box.

 

http://prospect.org/article/march-toward-constitutional-convention-slows-crawl

[Radar501]

The very least this child killer could have done for humanity was turn the gun on himself afterwards.

 

All blood and guts at one end.   No bloody guts at the other.

[Enoon]

2 hours ago, NumbNut said:

Meanwhile, back at the ranch...

 

Remington Bankruptcy

 

How can a gun manufacturing company in the US go broke? Especially one with a pedigree like Remington?

 

Interesting article, the bit about young people being less interested also relevant to this:

Harley-Davidson to Lay Off Workers, Close a Factory | Fortune

 

 

[Scott]

Troll post removed along with replies.