Florida shooting: Suspect Nikolas Cruz 'confessed to killing students' police report claims - as it happened
Hundreds attend vigils for the 17 victims of the massacre
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Your support makes all the difference.The teenager accused of using an AR-15 rifle to kill 17 people at a Florida high school is said to have confessed to police that he was the one who carried out the shooting and carried extra ammunition in his backpack, according to a sheriff's department arrest report.
Nikolas Cruz told investigators that he shot students in the hallways and on the grounds of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, north of Miami, the report from the Broward County Sheriff's Office said.
The youngest of the victims in one of the deadliest school shootings in US history, was identified as 15-year-old Alyssa Alhadeff. Meanwhile Cruz appeared in court charged with 17 counts of premeditated murder. More than a dozen other people were injured in the shooting. The judge ordered Cruz - who has not yet entered a plea - to be held without bail.
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Police also laid out what they believe to be the timeline for the shooting, which is said to have started when the suspect was dropped off at the school at 2.19 pm local time [7.19pm GMT] by an Uber taxi. Sheriff Scott Israel said at a news conference that the suspect entered the east stairwell and pulled the AR-15 rifle out of a case, readying it and then beginning to shoot into classrooms. The suspect is then said to have shot into classrooms on multiple floors.
The suspect is then said to have dropped the rifle, a vest and his backpack before running back down the stairs. Police believe he discarded those items to join others who were fleeing and escape the grounds. Cruz was arrested about an hour later, having visited at least one fast food restaurant in the meantime.
In a televised address to the nation – his fourth following a mass shooting – President Donald Trump urged Americans to “respond to hate with love”.
“Later this month, I will be meeting with the nation’s governors and attorney generals, where making our schools and our children safer will be our top priority,” he said. “We must also work together to create a culture in our country that embraces the dignity of life, that creates deep and meaningful human connections and that turns classmates and colleagues into friends and neighbours.”
In his remarks to the nation, Mr Trump avoided the issue of gun control, which was the subject of a lot of talk from those in Congress throughout the day, but did say he planned to travel to Florida to meet with victims’ families.
A Florida sheriff says the suspect in a high school shooting that killed 17 people fired into five classrooms before dropping his rifle and fleeing on foot.
Broward County Sheriff Scott Israel says 19-year-old Nikolas Cruz fired into three rooms on the second floor of the school in Parkland, then went back and fired again into two of those rooms. He says the shooter fired into one other room on that floor before moving to the third floor and shooting one person in a classroom there.
The suspect Nikolas Cruz is now said to be being monitored on suicide watch after his first court appearance.
A Broward County Sheriff's Office arrest report, which has been entered as part of court documents, says Nikolas Cruz confessed to police about being the shooter at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.
According to the report, he told interrogating officers that he "began shooting students that he saw in the hallways and on school grounds" on Wednesday afternoon.
The report adds that Cruz told officers he "brought additional loaded magazines to the school campus and kept them hidden in a backpack until he got on campus to begin his assault."
Cruz told investigators that as students began to flee, he decided to discard his AR-15 rifle and a vest he was wearing so he could blend in with the crowd. Police recovered the rifle and the vest.
Hundreds of mourners have gathered at a vigil in Parkland, Florida to remember the victims of the shooting, our reporter Clark Mindock is there.
Here is our full report on the arrest report released by the Broward County Sheriff's Office:
Here is our final report from our reporter in Florida, Clark Mindock:
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