- A law enforcement source reportedly identified 19-year-old Nicolas Cruz as the suspected gunman in the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting.
- Cruz was reportedly a former student of the high school.
- The shooting left at least 17 people dead and 14 injured, according to law enforcement.
- A student who attended an alternative school with Cruz said he showed off pictures of guns on his phone.
Law enforcement sources have begun releasing details of the suspected gunman from the high school shooting that has claimed the lives of at least 17 people and injured a further 14.
Nicolas Cruz, a 19-year-old former student of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, was reportedly taken into custody by the police, according to a law enforcement source in a Miami Herald report.
Jim Gard, one of Cruz’s former teachers, said that he was told that Cruz “wasn’t allowed on campus with a backpack on him,” and that there were cases of threats aimed at fellow students before he was asked to leave the school, The Herald reported.
The school administration followed up with an email warning faculty members that Cruz had made the threats, and that he was not allowed back to school with a backpack, according to Gard.
Broward Schools superintendent Robert Runcie said that although there “potentially could have been signs” of the shooting, officials “received no warnings,” The Herald reported.
A student who attended the same alternative high school as Cruz said that he was known to have flaunted pictures of firearms on his phone.
“He shot guns because he felt that it gave him an exhilarating feeling,” the student said on WSVN-7 News. “He showed me personally through his phone.”
“I didn’t want to cause any conflict with him because that’s the impression he gave off,” the student continued.
The student also said that he knew Cruz had guns at his home for two years.
“It surprises me the fact that this is going on today, but it doesn’t shock me that it was him,” the student continued. “It was an eye-opener.”
So far, 17 victims have died, according to the sheriff’s department. Law enforcement officials also confirmed that there were at least two fatalities.
The school enrolled 3,208 students between grades nine and 12, according to the Sun-Sentinel.
As reported by Business Insider