A mass shooting Wednesday at a high school in Parkland, Florida once again brought the vulnerability of our institutions of education to the forefront. The mass shooting amounted to 17 dead people. The suspect, supposedly a former student, was captured at the scene.
He was identified as Nikolas Cruz, 19. This information was confirmed by Broward County Sheriff Scott Israel during a news conference.
https://twitter.com/browardsheriff/status/963917765521428481
Naturally, Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School and a nearby middle school were sent into lockdown as police rushed to the scene after the reported mass shooting.
The shooting was not confined to the interior of the school building. Of those listed as killed, 12 were shot in the school; two others were killed outside, and one died on the street. Two died in transit to the hospital. After the attack, 15 victims were transported to the hospital.
The alleged gunman carried an AR-15 and had “countless magazines,” the sheriff said.
Sherrif Israel said the suspect was taken into custody “without incident.” The arrest was not on school grounds. The sheriff also said the suspect was not a current student at the school.
Florida Senator Bill Nelson told Fox News, “It’s a bad day.”
“I have already said my prayers to give them comfort, but this is a tough time,” Nelson said. “We say ‘enough is enough,’ but it happens again.”
Senator Marco Rubio also made a post on Twitter saying, “Today is that terrible day you pray never comes.”
“There are numerous fatalities,” Broward County Superintendent Robert Runcie said. “It is a horrific situation. It is a horrible day for us.”
The police said there was no indication anyone other than the suspect was involved in the shooting.
As is normal —that is a terrible thing to say, but it is true— the area schools were put into lockdown mode. And as the scene was active, the police directed the public to avoid the area of the high school until the situation was resolved.
As the incident unfolded and law enforcement responded, the Broward County Sheriff’s Office put out the following via Twitter:
#BSO is working a developing incident regarding a report of active shooter located at 5901 Pine Island Rd, Parkland. Here's what we know so far: deputies are responding to reports of a shooting at Stoneman Douglas High. There are reports of victims. PIO will be on scene 3:15pm.
— Broward Sheriff (@browardsheriff) February 14, 2018
Via social media, Coral Springs Police publicized the following: “AVOID THE AREA – Do not attempt to get to the school this perimeter is LOCKED down.”
The teachers and students, following their training, stayed barricaded in the school until police could reach them.
As has happened all too often in the past, the nation’s leader took to Twitter:
My prayers and condolences to the families of the victims of the terrible Florida shooting. No child, teacher or anyone else should ever feel unsafe in an American school.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 14, 2018
Florida Governor Rick Scott said on Twitter that he’d spoken to the president, Broward Sheriff Scott Israel, and other officials. He indicated law enforcement was updating him as to the status of the situation.
Recently, I authored an article on concealed carry at state schools in Texas. I have to ask: If the teachers or an official at the school had been armed and had been able to intervene, how many could have been saved? Leaving our schools unprotected is something the nation as a whole must address. Texas has the guardian program where school officials can be armed and protect their students until law enforcement arrives.
Texas state schools allow concealed carry by those that have concealed carry licenses. I have chosen to carry my firearm at school. It is time we start protecting our children. The school staff, the ones who are on the scene before law enforcement can arrive, have the best chance of lessening the damage if not entirely stopping it. We need to change our schools from being soft targets to a place that shooters and those hell-bent on destruction pass by because our schools are protected. It is time to take action and stop this insanity of sending our children into areas advertised as soft targets, gun-free zones, unprotected, and vulnerable to any attack.
