Florida shooter a loner with white supremacist ties

Nikolas

Cruz was expelled from school, threatened fellow students and posted “very disturbing” messages on social media, along with pictures of his favourite guns.

But despite broad signs suggesting he was a deeply troubled young man, Cruz was able to return to his Parkland, Florida high school Wednesday with an assault rifle and open fire, killing 17 students and adults.

A mugshot of Cruz, released after his arrest, depicts a young man seemingly little different from any other 19-year-old. But the information emerging since his attack suggests there were red flags that should have set off alerts.

Fellow students knew he posted violent messages on line. And someone using the sa- me name had published a comment on YouTube last year saying: “I’m going to be a professional school shooter.” That was reported to the FBI, but they never traced it back to Cruz.

Cruz had also joined the white supremacist group Republic of Florida, participating in their paramilitary training exercises, a member of the group told US media.

Broward County Mayor Beam Furr said he had been treated for a time at a mental health clinic. Dakota Mutchler, 17, told the Washing

ton Post he began selling knives in school out of his lunchbox, and posted on Instagram about his guns and about killing animals.