One day after suspected gunman Nikolas Cruz opened fire on students at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, he sits behind bars awaiting felony charges, while 17 victims have lost their lives.
Local station WSVN 7 News aired footage of the 19-year-old inside Broward County Jail on Thursday, where he was booked on 17 counts of premeditated murder. He is being held without bond.
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Cruz, who had been expelled last year for fighting and who had a history of menacing social media posts, returned to his former Parkland, Florida high school armed with an assault rifle, opening fire on students who poured into hallways after he triggered fire alarms near the end of the school day.
Listed at 5-foot-7 and 131 pounds, Cruz was arrested a short distance from the school near a home, USA TODAY reports. Students reportedly recognized him during the assault.
The suspect was later escorted into a police station wearing a hospital gown, as shown in the footage by WSVN. Sheriffs officials said that Cruz was initially taken to a hospital for labored breathing before being questioned at sheriff’s headquarters.
There were reportedly dozens of officers and agents on the scene following Cruz’s suspected gunfire, including the local department, the FBI and various associated task forces. They tracked down Cruz at a home close to the school within two hours after the shooting began. It’s unclear how he escaped the campus, but some are speculating that he blended in with students in the midst of the chaos.
Cruz’s arrest is a rare case, as the suspects in these tragedies are not usually captured alive.
After being expelled in spring 2017, Cruz was not allowed back on campus, yet he arrived at the building Wednesday wielding an AR-15 rifle.
While Cruz is the only suspect to be booked by Broward County authorities at this time, one student claimed that a second shooter was “definitely” involved in the incident.
“When shots were fired, I saw him after the fact. And the shots were coming from the other part of the building. So there definitely had to be two shooters involved, I believe,” Senior Alexa Miednik told KHOU-TV’s Matt Musil.
The Broward County Sheriff’s Office told PopCulture.com on Thursday it cannot confirm a second shooter “at this time.”
