FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. _ Nikolas Cruz, the accused killer in the Parkland school massacre, is scheduled to appear in court in Fort Lauderdale at 2 p.m. Thursday to face 17 counts of premeditated murder, Broward Sheriff Scott Israel said at a news conference.
President Trump addressed the nation on shooting that happened at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.
"Our entire nation, with one heavy heart, is praying for the victims and their families," he said. He spoke for six and half minutes about the "terrible violence, hatred and evil" and said he planned to Parkland, but did not say when. He said he would be meeting with state officials later this month to talk about how to make schools safer.
He did not answer questions shouted at the end by CNN's Jim Acosta "Will you do something about guns?"
Pope Francis issued a statement on the shooting.
"His Holiness Pope Francis was deeply saddened to learn of the tragic shooting that took place at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland," says a statement issued through the Archdiocese of Miami. "Assuring all those affected by this devastating attack of his spiritual closeness, he prays that Almighty God may grant eternal rest to the dead and healing and consolation to the wounded and those who grieve. With the hope that such senseless acts of violence may cease, Pope Francis invokes upon all of you the divine blessings of peace and strength."
At a news conference Thursday morning, FBI Special Agent in Charge Robert Lasky said agents are investigating a possible indication of the killer's plans posted a few months ago on YouTube.
"In September 2017, the FBI received information about a comment made on a YouTube channel. The comment said, 'I'm going to be a professional school shooter,'" he said. "No other information was included in the comment which would indicate a particular time, location, or the true identity of the person who posted the comment. The FBI conducted database reviews and other checks, but was unable to further identify the person who posted the comment."
Shortly before 5:45 a.m. Thursday, the young man accused in the shooting that left 17 people dead was escorted into Broward County's Main Jail in Fort Lauderdale. Cruz was surrounded by Broward Sheriff's deputies who walked him inside the facility.
Several false copycat incidents were reported at local schools Thursday, Sheriff Israel said. He warned that all will be taken seriously and investigated, with the perpetrators prosecuted to the fullest extent for causing such a waste of law enforcement resources.
Trump tweeted about the suspect Thursday morning, writing, "So many signs that the Florida shooter was mentally disturbed, even expelled from school for bad and erratic behavior. Neighbors and classmates knew he was a big problem. Must always report such instances to authorities, again and again!"
Some 15 hours earlier, the deadliest school shooting since Sandy Hook erupted as authorities say a 19-year-old man with a troubled past and an AR-15 rifle stalked the high school's halls.
Expelled from the school over disciplinary problems, Cruz is accused of squeezing off shot after shot as students took cover under desks, fire alarms blared and teachers barricaded classrooms. By the time it was over Wednesday, 17 people were dead or dying, and 16 were wounded.
The AR-15 used in the mass shooting was legally bought by Cruz, attorney Jim Lewis told the South Florida Sun Sentinel. Cruz already owned the gun when he moved in with his friend's family in northwest Broward around Thanksgiving, Lewis said. "It was his gun," Lewis said. "The family made him keep it in a locked gun cabinet in the house but he had a key."
The family did not see him shooting the AR-15 but did see him shooting pellet guns, Lewis said.
Cruz was arrested off campus and was taken to Broward Sheriff's Office headquarters in Fort Lauderdale. Although some students described Cruz as a normal teenager, others and some of his neighbors called him strange, troubled and depressed.
A firearms enthusiast whose adoptive mother died last November, Cruz talked about shooting lizards, squirrels and frogs, said Trevor Hart, who knew him from Spanish class and said he seemed "a little off." Police were called to his house numerous times, said a former neighbor, Shelby Speno, and he was seen shooting at a neighbor's chickens.
"He wore a hoodie and always had his head down," said Janine Kartiganer, a former neighbor. "He looked depressed."
Panicked parents streamed to this affluent section of northwest Broward County on Wednesday afternoon, as news helicopters broadcast the incident live, police officers crouched behind cars with guns drawn and students congregated on streets, many crying, hugging and calling friends and family.
In a blurry Snapchat video from inside the school, a man yelled, "Oh, my God," as the pop-pop, pop-pop of gunshots rang out and students screamed.
(Staff writers Paula McMahon, Susannah Bryan, Gary Curreri, Anne Geggis, Skyler Swisher and Scott Travis contributed to this report.)
