Multi-casualty Incident at Florida High School

Multiple Dead; Shooter in Custody Following Incident at Florida High School

The 19-year-old shooter is now in custody.

 [UPDATE: February 14, 2018 8:30 PM]

A 19-year-old male ambushed his former high school with an assault rifle on Wednesday, killing 17 people and injuring over a dozen more in the deadliest shooting on an American school in 2018. 

Officials confirmed the alleged shooter was Nikolas Cruz, a former student of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla. Local news stations reported Cruz had been expelled from the school late last year as he had become a threat to those around him. Students told reporters he had not been able to bring a backpack to school in his last few weeks as a student.

Broward Sheriff Scott Israel told reporters on Wednesday afternoon that Cruz had shot and killed 17 people with an AR-15 style firearm. A dozen people were found dead inside the school, two outside the school's building and a third person was found dead on the street near the campus. Two more people succumbed to their wounds at the hospital.

Reports of shots fired were received by police shortly before 3 p.m. local time. Witnesses told reporters that the fire alarm had been triggered and students began to flood the hallways marking their way to designated "evacuation zones" when the gunfire rang out. Student said they heard two to three shots at first, unable to place the sound, before they heard upwards of 40 more gunshots in the classrooms around them.

A Snapchat video of the incident showed student huddled in the corner of a classroom, under desks, while six to 10 gunshots fired off in the next classroom.

A heavy police response followed, FBI and SWAT team members could be seen on the scene within 30 minutes of the first call to 911. Students were placed on lockdown in "Code Red" as police started the intense manhunt for Cruz. 

Nearly an hour and a half after gunfire rang out police in the next town over, less than a mile from the campus took Cruz into custody. He was searched and placed into a police cruiser for a short period of time before he was loaded into an ambulance and taken to a nearby hospital for a leg injury.

Doctors at local hospitals told reporters that all of the victims transported to their facilities suffered gunshot wounds. Three were in critical condition.

This is the 18th instance of gun violence on an American middle or high school in 2018. Three weeks ago two students were killed and 18 more were injured when a student open fired on students at Marshall County High School in Kentucky. 

[UPDATE: February 14, 2018 3:30 PM]

Broward Sheriff has tweeted that the shooter in the Parkland, Florida school shooting is now in custody an hour and a half after reports of shots fired at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.

Local news reports say the shooter was a former student of the high school and the shooting happened in the school's freshman building.

The amount of people injured in the incident is still unknown, but local news stations have said at least four people have been admitted to a local hospital. Senator Bill Nelson told CBS News that there are multiple fatalities in the shooting.

Hundreds of police, FBI and members of SWAT responded to the scene on Wednesday. The school's website says there are nearly 3,000 students enrolled at the school.

Original story below.

Authorities are responding to reports of a shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Florida. The situation is ongoing and will be updated as more information becomes available.

The Broward Sheriff's Office said there are reports of victims. At least 20 people have been injured, a local fire department told CBS Miami. Students are streaming out of the school, but law enforcement says there are still numerous students still hiding in inside school closets.

The shooter is still at large, the sheriff's office said via Twitter. Law enforcement is going from room to room to neutralize the shooter.

The White House said President Trump has been briefed on the shooting and is monitoring the situation.

Students at the school were being evacuated to West Glades Middle School Wednesday afternoon

Emergency workers at the scene of a shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Coral Springs, Florida, Feb. 14, 2018.

SWAT teams were seen entering the campus with canines. A number of people could be seen being loaded into ambulances on a stretcher, reports CBS Miami. Students were seen being led across the street with their hands over their heads.

Officers asked people to avoid the area. The Coral Springs Police Department told teachers and students to remain barricaded inside until police reach them.

CBS Miami's Rick Folbaum was speaking over text message with a student at the school who is hiding in a closet.

"All of a sudden there was a really loud noise…..people are crying the closet," the student wrote to him.

This is a developing story and will be updated. 

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