Police say suspect in rampage confessed
PARKLAND, Fla. — The 19-year-old accused of killing 17 people at his former high school admitted to police he carried out one of the country’s deadliest school shootings, authorities said Thursday. But what may have motivated Nikolas Cruz remained unknown, even as investigators delved into his troubled, violent life and the red flags that littered his path back to Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School on Wednesday afternoon.
As Cruz remained held without bond on murder charges, authorities scoured the high school where they say he aimed his AR-15 and fired round after round into classroom after classroom, leaving a trail of blood and agony before trying to elude police by hiding among those running to escape the carnage.
On the first full day after the school was transformed into a war zone, this idyllic suburb north of Fort Lauderdale grappled with a massacre that added its name to the ever-growing roster of places synonymous with tragedies in public spaces: Columbine, Colo.; Newtown, Conn.; Aurora, Colo.; Charleston, S.C.; Las Vegas, Nev.; Sutherland Springs, Texas; and, now, Parkland.
“This community is hurting right now,” Broward County Sheriff Scott Israel said Thursday. “Today’s a day of healing. Today’s a day of mourning.”
The country mourned with Parkland, living through what has become a grim routine. Names slowly emerged on Thursday, revealing that the bullets cut down the young and old alike, including a student who had recently gotten into the state’s flagship college, a senior who had just gained U.S. citizenship and a football coach who was working at his alma mater. Those killed ranged in age from 14 to 49, police said. Most were teenagers, just one of them old enough to vote. Three were staffers.
The familiar response played out as the shooting again cracked open fissures in American politics and culture over guns, a debate that seems ever more immovable. President Donald Trump, in brief remarks at the White House, echoed Florida Gov. Rick Scott, a Republican, in emphasizing a response focused on mental health, eschewing the calls for stricter gun control that follow every attack without any changes being made. In this case, some of the loudest pleas came from students who survived the attack as well as grieving parents.
“President Trump, please do something!” Lori Alhadeff, who lost her daughter Alyssa, said in emotional remarks broadcast on CNN. “Do something. Action! We need it now! These kids need safety now!”
In Florida, Cruz’s past revealed a pattern of disciplinary issues and unnerving behavior. People who knew him said that for years, Cruz had a habit of attacking animals like squirrels and chickens. When he got older, he became isolated, angry and withdrawn, losing his parents and eventually moving into friends’ houses.
At Douglas, his problems began with suspensions. A teacher said administrators had sent out a message suggesting they keep an eye on him. Cruz was expelled last year.
New details about the shooting emerged Thursday in court documents and from police. Cruz took an Uber to the school, police said in a probable-cause affidavit, wearing a black backpack and carrying a black duffel bag. A staffer recognized him and radioed a co-worker to say that Cruz was approaching. Within a minute, he heard gunshots and called a “Code Red,” which announced an emergency.
He began firing into rooms, returning to two of them as he continued pumping round after round inside at the huddled, terrified teachers and students. Cruz went up the stairs, firing at another room as he traveled through the school building.
As students began to flee the carnage, Cruz dropped his rifle and bag of extra ammunition and joined “others who were fleeing and tried to mix in with the group … fearing for their lives,” Israel, the sheriff, said Thursday. He went to a Wal-Mart, bought a drink, sat at a Subway, and eventually left on foot.
Michael Leonard, a police officer from nearby Coconut Creek who came to assist with the police response, spotted him walking down a residential street not far from the school.
A day after being arrested, Cruz made his first court appearance, facing 17 counts of premeditated murder. He mostly looked down at his hands and answered the judge in a low voice. His attorneys did not specifically say Thursday that he had confessed to the shooting, nor did they explicitly deny his involvement, describing him as a “broken young man ” who is “very saddened” by what happened.
Israel, the sheriff, vowed that authorities would make sure that “justice is served.” More than a dozen people were wounded, and some remain in critical condition.