› Timeline of the moments before, during and after the shooting,
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — Nikolas Cruz showed up at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in an Uber car—with a rifle inside a duffel bag — and walked purposefully toward the campus.
A school worker recognized him as a “former troubled student,” according to a police report. He was wearing a maroon shirt, black pants and a black cap, carrying the duffel bag and wearing a black backpack loaded with ammunition.
The employee radioed a colleague to alert him that Cruz was headed toward Building 1200. Within minutes, shooting began, ultimately leaving 17 people dead Wednesday at the school in Parkland.
On Thursday, Broward Sheriff’s Office released an arrest report and a timeline of the massacre, providing a harrowing look at the moments before, during and after the shooting.
According to Sheriff Scott Israel:
› 2:19 p.m. The Uber car drops Cruz off. Cruz enters the east stairwell of the 1200 building and pulls the rifle out of the case.
› 2:21 p.m. Cruz begins shooting into rooms 1213, 1216 and 1214. He climbs the west stairwell to the second floor and shoots a victim in room 1234. Cruz then takes the east stairwell to the third floor, where he drops his weapon and backpack and runs down the stairs and out of the building toward the tennis courts and then turns south.
He stops at a Walmart store, buys a drink at a Subway shop and continues walking.
› 3:41 p.m. Cruz’s next stop is a McDonald’s, where he sits briefly. Police catch up to him at 4700 Wyndham Lakes Drive in Coral Springs and take him into custody.
The police report said Cruz admitted to a detective that he shot students he saw on school grounds. He fired “well over 100 shots,” a law enforcement source told the South Florida Sun Sentinel.
He said he ditched the gun, ammunition and a vest that held more bullets so he could blend into the crowd that swarmed the campus in the panicked atmosphere after the killings, the report said.
After Cruz was arrested, the school monitor identified him, as did the Uber driver.
Judge Kim Theresa Mollica on Thursday denied bond for Cruz during his first court appearance, when he wore an orange jumpsuit while shackled at his waist and ankles. He kept his face down during most of the hearing when he was told he would face 17 counts of premeditated murder.