Ciara McCormick
Suspected gunman Nikolas Cruz has been accused of killing 17 people at Marlory Stoneman Douglas High School in Florida on the afternoon of Wednesday 14th. He has been suspected of firing at students and teachers from the top floor of the school.
Nikolas entered the school with his rifle and shot students in classrooms. He then made his way to the top floor and shot fleeing students. Thankfully, the high quality glass didn’t shatter. State senator, Bill Galvano said “authorities told me that it would have been easy for the suspect to open the glass but thank God he didn’t”. Bill was taken on a tour of the school and was shown bullet holes on the glass. After several rounds of shooting, Nikolas dropped the gun and evacuated the building, blending in with his classmates. Police arrested Nikolas around an hour later, about a mile away and the gun man was taken into police custody.
Nikolas was charged on Thursday with 17 counts of premeditated murder. He killed 14 students from ages 14 to 18 years old and 3 members of staff, ages ranging from 35 to 49. 14 people have been injured and are in hospital.
Nikolas was adopted and people say Valentine’s day, a day of family, friends and love may have triggered the attack. Nevertheless, his adopted mother stated “We had this monster living under our roof and we didn’t know.” The family said they knew he was lonely and depressed but had “never saw this side of him before”.
