2-15-18

The mugshot of alleged Florida school shooter Nikolas Cruz, 19, was released as dark details of the teen’s life unfold. According to CBS News, at least one student recognized Cruz from an Instagram photo where he posed with a gun in front of his face. Cruz reportedly posted threats to “shoot people with my AR-15″ to social media prior to the attack, which left at least 17 dead at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.

PLUS

Former FBI Assistant Director Chris Swecker on what can be done to reduce the risks of mass shootings including the possibility of armed security outside of schools.

Looking forward to your comments on all of this. We do NOT need gun control, we need more armed security and to restrict assault weapons such as the AR15!

Mugshot of Alleged Florida School Shooter (monster) Nikolas Cruz Released

Source Inside Edition

InsideEdition.com’s Keleigh Nealon

Veteran #FBI Agent Breaks Down On CNN Over #FloridaSchoolShooting: ‘I Can’t Do It, Wolf’ | TIME

Source Time

A veteran counterterrorism expert and former FBI agent broke down in tears during a live CNN segment on the deaths of 17 people at a school shooting in Parkland, Florida.

Armed security outside of schools?

Source Fox News

Suspect charged with 17 counts of premeditated murder: Broward County Sheriff

Source Fox Business

US President Donald Trump responds to Florida high school shooting – BBC News

Source BBC News

“No child, no teacher, should ever be in danger in an American school” – US President Donald Trump responds to Florida high school shooting

Shocking Bombshell! A Second Shooter?! (Videos) click here

Who is Nikolas Cruz? School shooting suspect joked about guns, worrying classmates

by JON SCHUPPE

The young man (MONSTER) charged with killing 17 people at his former Florida high schoolworried some of his classmates, talking about his guns and sharing pictures of small animals he had shot.

He had a “very disturbing” social media presence and had been expelled from school, officials said, supplying new details on the life of accused shooter, Nikolas Cruz.

Cruz, 19, has been charged with 17 counts of premeditated murder in the attack Wednesday at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, which he was expelled from last year for disciplinary reasons, officials said.

He bought the .223 caliber rifle used in the shootings legally at a federally licensed gun store in Broward County, several law enforcement sources familiar with the investigation told NBC News.

A motive in the shooting remains unclear, but students who encountered Cruz said he talked a lot about having fun with firearms, so much so that some joked that if anyone were to attack the school, it would probably be him.

Cruz “threatened to bring the guns to school multiple times,” senior Eddie Bonilla said. Other students, he said, “threw jokes around that he’d be the one to shoot up the school.”

Students and teachers said Cruz had been a member of the U.S. Army Junior Reserve Officers’ Training Corps.

Julien Decoste, also a senior, said Cruz sometimes posted pictures on his Instagram feed of “dead lizards and stuff that he shot.”

That Instagram page also has pictures of a figure, face obscured by bandannas and holding knives. Another shows a young man, presumably Cruz, holding a pistol, although it’s not clear whether the gun is real.

Cruz, who is due in court later Thursday, also may have posted something of a warning on YouTube. A Mississippi bail bondsman said he notified the FBI last year about a comment under a video by someone named “nikolas cruz” that said, “Im going to be a professional school shooter.” An FBI official in Florida confirmed the basics of that account, saying agents followed up but were unable to confirm the identification of who made the comment.

Broward County Sheriff Scott Israel said investigators were reviewing social media postings that he described as “very disturbing.”

Other pieces of Cruz’s life are becoming clear. His mother died in November, and he had been living with a family whose son is a junior at Douglas for almost three months, “without any concerns or issues,” the family’s lawyer told NBC Miami.

“They are shocked and horrified by the allegations being made,” the lawyer, Jim Lewis, said.

After his expulsion from Douglas, Cruz attended a different school in the district, the Broward County schools superintendent, Robert Runcie, said. Cruz also worked at a nearby Dollar Tree, the chain store company confirmed.

On the day of the shooting, Cruz took an Uber to the Douglas campus, Runcie said. After the attack, Cruz hid in the crowd fleeing the school, authorities said. He was arrested in nearby Coral Springs about an hour later.

Brandon Minoff, a senior at Douglas who said he had two classes with Cruz two years ago, said that while it was “surreal” to hear Cruz named as the suspect, “I wasn’t surprised.”

“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,” Minoff said. “He likes to do reckless stuff.”

Sebastian Toala, another senior, told NBC Miami, “I never really got close to him, because I always had a feeling there was something wrong.”

Spanish teacher Alicia Blonde told MSNBC she taught Cruz when he was a sophomore, describing him as small in stature and demeanor. He was in JROTC and often wore his uniform, but was an undisciplined student, Blonde said. Cruz also was reluctant to speak in Spanish, despite his Hispanic background.

“I think there was some pride issues there. He didn’t feel comfortable in his own skin and culture,” Blonde said.

Sophomore Isabella Gomez said she recognized Cruz as a “strange kid” whom she often saw around school. She recalled that Cruz had been prohibited at one point from carrying a backpack, so he carried things in a plastic bag.

Gomez said she had a troubling brief encounter with Cruz, when they bumped into each other in a hallway. “I used to say he looks like no good,” Gomez said. 

SOURCE NBC News

Florida shooting: FBI and teachers warned about Nikolas Cruz

The FBI has confirmed that it was warned about the teenager who allegedly carried out a mass shooting at his former school in Florida.

Nikolas Cruz, who has been charged with 17 counts of premeditated murder, reportedly left a comment on a YouTube video last year stating: “I’m going to be a professional school shooter.”

A user alerted authorities to the post.

Teachers were also warned about Mr Cruz, who was not allowed on campus with a backpack, US media report.

The FBI said it had investigated the YouTube comment but had been unable to fully identify the person who posted it.

Seventeen people were killed and many more were injured in the attack at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. Several people are in a critical condition.

It is the deadliest shooting at a US school since 2012.

Expressing his condolences on Thursday, US President Donald Trump said he was “making plans to visit” Parkland.

What were the warnings?

After seeing a comment on a YouTube post last year by Mr Cruz, 19, user Ben Bennight contacted the FBI and spoke to representatives for about 20 minutes.

Mr Bennight said the FBI contacted him again following the school shooting in Parkland.

The FBI confirmed on Thursday that they were made aware of the comment, adding that they had conducted “checks” but were unable to identify the person behind it.

Meanwhile maths teacher Jim Gard told the Miami Herald newspaper that school authorities had emailed teachers about Mr Cruz’s behaviour.

“We were told last year that he wasn’t allowed on campus with a backpack on him,” Mr Gard told the Miami Herald.

“There were problems with him last year threatening students, and I guess he was asked to leave campus.”

• Is it time to arm teachers?

It is unclear why Mr Cruz was expelled from the school. Former schoolmate Joshua Charo said Mr Cruz had been found with bullets in his backpack.

“I can’t say I was shocked,” Mr Charo said after the shooting.

Nikolas Cruz was arrested an hour after the attack

“He seemed like the kind of kid who would do something like this.”

Other students echoed that opinion. “Everyone predicted it,” one told local station WFOR.

But police said they were had not been warned of a possible attack by Mr Cruz.

Who were the victims?

Details of the 17 victims are emerging.

The school’s assistant football coach Aaron Feis was taken to hospital after jumping in front of students to shield them from bullets. His team tweeted that he had “died a hero”.

The family of student Jaime Guttenberg confirmed her death in a Facebook post on Thursday, referring to the 17-year-old as an “awesome young girl” and updating her page on the social media site to create a memorial for her.

Ms Guttenberg’s parents earlier said that her brother Jesse had escaped unharmed.

Another student, Alyssa Alhadeff, has been identified by her family as a victim of Wednesday’s shooting.

A fourth victim, Nicholas Dworet, was confirmed dead on social media by members of his swimming team.

• Florida shooting: A survivor’s story
• How the school attack happened

‘There may be no answer’

By Owen Amos, BBC News, in Parkland, Florida

On approaching Stoneman Douglas High, it is clear that nothing is normal about today.

The yellow school buses are parked up, going nowhere. The soccer fields are empty. TV trucks line the neat verges.

While the school is closed, the nearby elementary school is open. Parents hold their children’s hands tightly as they dodge cameramen.

Lanny James, 77, has a place five miles away in Margate. He comes here for the sun. He was playing golf when he heard the news. “This is supposed to be paradise,” he says.

Lanny has 10 guns and has hunted since the 1960s. “I just don’t know what the answer is,” he says. “And there may not be one.”

What the survivors saw

What else do we know about the suspect?

Broward County Sheriff Scott Israel said Mr Cruz’s social media profiles were “very, very disturbing”.

Two separate Instagram accounts, now deleted, purport to show Mr Cruz posing with guns and knives.

Mr Cruz allegedly used an AR-15 rifle in the attack, which he had bought legally and which he kept locked up in their house at their request.

• What we know about Florida shooting suspect

What’s the reaction been?

Speaking at the White House on Thursday, Mr Trump addressed “every parent, teacher and child who is hurting”, and said authorities would do “whatever we can to ease your pain”.

“I want you to know that you are never alone,” the president said, adding: “No child should be in danger in an American school.”

He added: “We are committed to working with local leaders to tackle the difficult issue of mental health.”.

Mr Trump earlier said the shooting showed that people must report their concerns about others’ erratic behaviour.

Florida Senator Marco Rubio tweeted that the shooting was “designed and executed to maximize loss of life”.

But he said that it was too soon to debate whether tighter gun laws could have stopped it.

“You should know the facts of that incident before you run out and prescribe some law that you claim could have prevented it,” he told Fox News.

• Call for policy change: ‘Prayers not enough’
• Senators singled out over gun lobby funds

Florida Governor Rick Scott said the shooting was “pure evil”, but also refused to be drawn into a discussion about gun control.

Florida’s Democratic Senator Bill Nelson asked what it would take “for enough to be enough”.

“Sandy Hook, Pulse nightclub, [Fort] Lauderdale airport, Las Vegas and now Parkland, Florida – when is this going to stop?” he wrote on Twitter.

Democratic Senator Chris Murphy tweeted that it was time to debate gun violence, adding that political leaders needed to act to prevent “this slaughter”.

SOURCE BBC News

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