Broward County shooting takes 17 lives
On Feb. 14, 2018, a 19-year old boy murdered 17 students and teachers, making the deadliest school shooting in the U.S. in the last five years. The boy’s name was Nikolas Jacob Cruz, and he was admitted into the Broward County Jail on Thursday after confessing to being the shooter.
Cruz entered Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, in Parkland, Florida, around 2:30 PM, entering the east stairwell with an assault rifle in a black felt case. He then went from classroom to classroom, shooting at students. After firing multiple shots, Cruz took the east stairwell to the third floor and dropped his rifle and backpack with extra ammunition, exiting the building and running towards the tennis courts. He attempted to blend in with the students who were fleeing, and successfully escaped the school. He then went to a Walmart, a Subway and a McDonald’s within an hour. At 3:41 PM, Cruz was detained by the Coconut Creek Police Department.
Michael Leonard, the police officer who arrested Cruz, saw him walking on the side of the road. Leonard noticed that the person matched the description of the suspect. He gave a statement regarding the arrest.
“For a quick moment I thought, ‘Could this be the person, is this who I need to stop?’ Training kicked in. I pulled my vehicle over immediately. I engaged the suspect. He complied with my commands,” Leonard said. “He was taken into custody without any issues.”
Cruz killed three teachers and 14 students. Scott Beigel, a geography teacher apart of the 17 now gone, was said to be killed shielding his students from harm.
The victims of this shooting were: Alyssa Alhadeff, 14, Scott Beigel, 35, Martin Duque Anguiano, 14, Nicholas Dworet, 17, Aaron Feis, 37, Jaime Guttenberg, 14, Christopher Hixon, 49, Luke Hoyer, 15, Cara Loughran, 14, Gina Montalto, 14, Joaquin Oliver, 17, Alaina Petty, 14, Meadow Pollack, 18, Helena Ramsay, 17, Alexander Schachter, 14, Carmen Schentrup, 16, Peter Wang, 15.
The suspect used an AR-15 (sem-automatic rifle), which he had legally purchased in Florida around a year earlier. Cruz bought the weapon in Coral Springs, Florida, at a stored named Sunrise Tactical. He also bought a gas mask, smoke grenades and multiple magazines of ammunition. The weapon was a semi-automatic weapon, capable of spraying hundreds of rounds in just a few minutes.
A few hours before the shooting, students had a fire-drill, so naturally, many believed that they were having another drill. In reality, Cruz pulled the fire alarm. When the alarm rang for the second time that day, just before release, people filed out into the hallways. That’s when Cruz opened fire on the crowd of students.
This deadly event is hopefully the last of its kind as it has make quite the impact on the American people, and has finally caused a significant uproar in the student population, with many protests occuring in high schools around the nation.
