A Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School student claims that she ran into suspected gunman Nikolas Cruz as she was fleeing the school.
Alexa Meidnek, a senior at the Parkland, Florida high school, claims after hearing gunshots ring out in the halls of her school, she ran into the gunman suspected to be behind those shots as she fled to safety.
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Speaking briefly to KHOU-11‘s Matt Musil, she explained the encounter.
“He was trouble in middle school, so I kind of joked to him about it and said ‘I’m surprised you weren’t the one who did it.’ And he just gave me a ‘Huh?’” Meidnek said, who added that she knew him for a while and he had always been “nice” to her.
Cruz is accused of entering the school, where he had been expelled last year for “disciplinary reasons,” just before afternoon dismissal. He was armed with an AR-15, several magazines of ammunition, a gas mask and smoke grenades. Authorities stated that he had legally purchased the assault rifle about a year ago.
After pulling the fire alarm and opening fire once student began exiting classrooms and filing into the hallways, it is believed that the 19-year-old managed to escape the scene by concealing “himself in the crowd and was among those running out of the school.”
Investigators combed through security footage at the school in order to identify Cruz, which led to his arrest “in a nearby neighborhood in Coral Springs” by Coconut Creek PD within two hours of the shooting. He was taken into custody without incident and transported to a local hospital for exhibiting labored breathing. Upon being released back into police custody, he was taken to a police station for questioning.
The shooting resulted in the deaths of 17 students and adults as well as 14 injuries.
Cruz, who made his first court appearance Thursday afternoon, has been charged with 17 counts of premeditated murder.
