Yesterday, at least 17 people were killed and a further 14 were injured after a teenager open-fired at a crowd congregated outside the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. The shooter, Nikolas Cruz, had been expelled from the Parkland school last year, and was captured alive before being taken into custody. Broward County Sheriff, Scott Israel, said that Cruz was believed to have been armed with a semiautomatic weapon, and had come prepared with multiple magazines. He described the crime as a "horrific, detestable act," and added that law enforcement were looking into the teenager's "very, very disturbing" social media profiles in order to give them some idea of his motive. Since then, some images from his Instagram account have emerged, and they are as chilling as Israel warned. Several images show the 19-year-old killer posing with knives and guns, almost always with his face concealed. Other posts show the young man's gun collection, and one image even shows him asking for advice on whether or not he should purchase a particular weapon. "I plan on getting this but I need more information on it so if someone could give advice ... please to god let me know," he wrote alongside the image of a Maverick shotgun. He also commented later on saying that he needed it "for hunting". According to reports, Cruz was a known threat to students at the school. One math teacher, Jim Guard, said: "We were told last year that he wasn't allowed on campus with a backpack on him," adding that, "there were problems with him last year threatening students, and I guess he was asked to leave campus." What's more, several students have said that they were not entirely shocked by the revelation that it was Cruz who had committed the horrific attack. Brandon Minoff, a student who had once been in the same classes as Cruz, said that it was "surreal" to hear that the 19-year-old had been named as the shooter, but added that he "wasn't surprised" by the news. "I got paired with him for a project, and he started talking to me about his life — how he was held back twice, expelled from two private schools. He likes to do reckless stuff," Minoff said. "He had aspirations to join the military. He enjoyed hunting." Another student, Matthew Walker, told reporters that "A lot of kids threw jokes around saying that he was going to be the one to shoot up the school. It turns out that everyone predicted it. That's crazy." "He was going class to class just shooting at random kids," Walker said. "Everything he posts [on social media] is about weapons. It's sick." Cruz was also found to have posted several pictures of mutilated animals, and comments traced to accounts belonging to him on YouTube showed that he had made threatening statements about killing people. "I whana [sic] shoot people with my AR-15," said one comment. "I wanna die Fighting killing s**t ton of people," read another. Cruz was even found to have specifically targeted members of law enforcement, writing: "I am going to kill law enforcement one day they go after the good people" in the comments of one video. [[twitterwidget||https://twitter.com/shannonrwatts/status/964001372734550016]] This is the eighth school shooting this year in the USA, and has once again sparked discussion about gun laws in the USA. "Are we coming to expect these mass shootings to be routine? And then after every one we say ‘enough is enough’ and then it continues to happen?" said Florida congressman, Bill Nelson, on Wednesday. Five of the people shot yesterday are still in a critical condition after sustaining life-threatening injuries.  

At least 17 people were killed at a shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Coral Springs, Florida. Multiple people have been injured, but we are still waiting for an exact number at this time. After a massive manhunt, police apprehended the shooter without incident, and brought him into custody. The suspect has been identified as 19-year-old Nicolas de Jesus Cruz. Cruz attended the school at one time, but is not enrolled there right now. The other students describe him as "troubled," and obsessed with firearms. "I stayed clear of him most of the time," one teen told WSVN. "He’s been a troubled kid, and he’s always had a certain amount of issues going on. He shot guns because he felt it gave him, I guess, an exhilarating feeling." Another former classmate said, "I didn’t want to cause any conflict with him because of the impression he gave off." "There were problems with him last year threatening students," said Jim Gard, a math teacher who previously taught Cruz. "I guess he was asked to leave campus. We were told last year that he wasn’t allowed on campus with a backpack on him." [[twitterwidget||https://twitter.com/CBSMiami/status/963869227563343873]] Television footage of the scene showed a war zone; every parent's worst nightmare. Emergency workers treated the wounded on sidewalks and loaded victims into ambulances. Dozens of children rushed out of the school in a panic, with authorities waving them to safety. Police officers in camouflage stormed inside the school, with weapons drawn, to evacuate the remaining students. The children walked out in single-file lines, with their hands up to show they had no weapons. They were taken to West Glades Middle School which is on lockdown. One student says a fire alarm went off at 2:30pm, and they heard about six gunshots. Chaos followed, and students scrambled to get away from the deadly gunfire. Some barricaded themselves in classrooms. One girl said she jumped a fence, and hurt her toe on the way down. Another girl said she saw a window blow out, screamed and hid in a nearby closet. As she waited for help, she texted her dad, because she was too scared to speak on the phone. When her father arrived, he said, "It's the worst nightmare not hearing from my daughter for 20 minutes, it was the longest 20 minutes of my life." [[twitterwidget||https://twitter.com/CBSEveningNews/status/963873608245407745]] The FBI is assisting local authorities at the scene. They're telling the students still inside the school to remain where they are, until the police can reach them and escort them to safety. Many students have kept in touch with their parents and authorities through text messages. The instant communication proved both comforting and frightening. One daughter sent her mother a text that read, "We're on code red. I'm fine." Another text soon followed, reading: "Mom, I'm so scared." (The girl later escaped from the building unharmed.) Meanwhile, one 17-year-old junior sent his parents this text message, "Mom and Dad, there have been shots fired on campus at school. There are police sirens outside. I'm in the auditorium and the doors are locked." President Trump responded on Twitter, writing, "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." According to Everytown for Gun Safety, there have been 290 school shootings in the United States since 2013. That is an average of once a week.

Many are still recovering from the horrific scene of violence at a Florida high school yesterday. The Valentine's Day massacre took the lives of 17 students, who were gunned down despite the school's strict adherence to intruder and active-shooter training procedures. The suspect was eventually revealed to be Nicolas Cruz, who had been expelled from the school the previous year. Right after the Christmas break, the Broward County Public Schools held their yearly training, in which the Sheriff's Office met with staff from various schools including Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. However, it wasn't enough to combat the ex-student, who was carrying an AR-15 assault rifle. [[twitterwidget||https://twitter.com/TheCaptainAidan/status/963865696643026944]] 12 students were killed in the school building, two more outside the building, one in the street, and a further two died of their wounds in hospital. It was the 18th US shooting in 2018. “They said, ‘Tell your kids if they hear a fire alarm or if somebody knocks on the door and says ‘Let us in,’ don’t open the door for anybody,’” a teacher who attended this training told The Daily Beast. Unfortunately, possibly knowing the procedures of his former school, the 19-year-old waited until five minutes before the dismissal time before he pulled a fire alarm, rather than being spotted roaming the hallways. Cruz was expelled from the school and enrolled in another school in the district. He was described by many as "troubled" and obsessed with firearms. "There were problems with him last year threatening students," said math teacher Jim Gard, who previously taught Cruz. "I guess he was asked to leave campus. We were told last year that he wasn’t allowed on campus with a backpack on him."

Nikolas Cruz has pleaded guilty to all charges against him in the 2018 mass shooting he carried out at Marjorie Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida.

Per BBC News, the 23-year-old entered his pleas in a courtroom in front of a dozen relatives of victims after answering a long list of questions from Circuit Judge Elizabeth Scherer aimed at confirming his mental competency.

He was charged with 17 counts of murder and 17 counts of attempted first-degree murder for those wounded in the 14 February 2018 attack.

Credit: Newscom / Alamy

He faces 34 counts, 17 of which are first-degree murder, carrying a minimum penalty of life in prison with no chance of parole and a maximum penalty of death, NBC News reports.

The other 17 counts are attempted murder in the first degree. Prosecutors can use each of the attempted murder charges and additional murder charges as aggravating factors at his sentencing hearing.

Fourteen of those who died were students, and three were members of staff.

Cruz killed his victims on Valentine's Day 2018 during a seven-minute rampage through a three-storey building at the school. Investigators said he shot victims in the hallways and in classrooms with an AR-15 semiautomatic rifle.

Credit: Paul Hennessy / Alamy

Cruz had been expelled from the school back in 2017 after a history of threatening, frightening, unusual, and sometimes violent behavior that dated back to preschool.

In court on Wednesday, Judge Scherer asked Cruz how he pleaded to each murder. Following the plea, Cruz tearfully addressed the judge and the victims' families.

Per BBC News, he said: "I am very sorry for what I did and have to live with it every day. If I were to get a second chance, I would do everything in my power to help others."

Credit: Abaca Press / Alamy

"I have to live with this every day and it brings me nightmares that I can’t live with myself sometimes but I try to push through," he added.

He also said that he believes that the US would "do better if everyone would stop smoking marijuana," per Reuters.

A penalty trial will now determine if Cruz will receive a sentence of death or life in prison without parole.

Judge Scherer plans to begin screening jurors next month in hopes testimony can begin in January 2022.

Featured image credit: Tribune Content Agency LLC / Alamy

In the aftermath of the shooting at Stoneman Douglas High School last week, more and more American citizens are calling for greater gun control. Former student Nikolas Cruz opened fire with a semiautomatic AR-15 in the hallways and school grounds, leaving a death toll of 17. This makes it the most fatal US school shooting since 2012, and one of the world's deadliest school massacres. In any case, the students of Stoneman Douglas aren't sitting back and accepting the condolences of politicians.

"I think it’s great that they’re saying ‘thoughts and prayers,’ but it doesn’t do anything. And after every single shooting that’s what they say over and over again, but nothing ever changes," said 17-year-old Carly Novell, who hid in a closet for two hours while the gunman rampaged through the high school. "It has to be political because this happened because of guns, this happened because of the relaxed gun laws that we have."

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And now, police in Texarkana, Texas have arrested 24-year-old Ricky Jared Rankin for reportedly posting a photograph of an AR-15 - the model of semi-automatic rifle used in the Florida shooting - to Instagram, with the caption "I’m thinking about finally going back to school".

According to KTBS, the post resulted in an immediate police investigation, and as a precautionary step, local school districts were notified of the potential threat. Officers and FBI agents obtained a search warrant for Rankin's property and arrested the individual without incident.

While the firearm in question has not been found, weapons belonging to other family members in the home have been secured. Chief Dan Shiner confirmed that Rankin is currently being held in custody.

He stated, "We don’t know if this post was meant as a joke or if he really planned to go to a school with a gun. However, our department takes comments like this very seriously and will take swift action to protect the children in our schools. No one wants the tragic events that we’ve all seen in other places to be repeated here."

Rankin is one of several individuals to be detained after making ill-advised social media posts, which show them brandishing guns or making threats. Yesterday, WCTV reported that the Wakulla County Sheriff's Office in Florida has arrested 18-year-old Kane Watson for purportedly sending a Snapchat video of himself loading a firearm with the caption, "Don't go to school". And at least three students from Chattanooga, Tennessee are in custody after making threats or poorly received hoaxes on social media.

But whilst it's reassuring that law enforcement has been especially litigious in the wake of the mass slaughter in Parkland, Florida, the debate surrounding greater gun control is as topical as ever. Certainly, Florida's democratic senator, Bill Nelson, has repeatedly queried what it will take "for enough to be enough".

"Don't tell me tomorrow isn't the appropriate time to debate gun violence. If you're a political leader doing nothing about this slaughter, you're an accomplice," he wrote on Twitter.

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Our thoughts lie with everyone affected by this tragedy.