Media Eye News Bureau: At least 17 students and teachers were killed as a heavily-armed 19-year-old went on a shooting spree outside and inside his former high school in Florida state in the US.
The shooting suspect, identified as Nicolas Cruz, has been taken into custody.
The violence unfolded at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High, a school of more than 3,000 students in a tony suburb northwest of Fort Lauderdale where houses sit on broad lots.
The gunman, Nikolas Cruz , armed with a semi-automatic AR-15 rifle, had been expelled from the school for "disciplinary reasons".
He began his rampage outside the school shortly before dismissal time around 2.40 p.m. He then made his way inside and proceeded down hallways, firing at frightened students and teachers who were scurrying for cover.
The gunman started firing before even entering the school, leaving a trail of carnage across the sprawling campus. A dozen of the dead were found inside the school, and three were found outside. Two others succumbed to their injuries at a hospital. A football coach was among those killed, the sheriff said Wednesday night.
The shooting, among the 10 deadliest mass shootings in modern US history, revived debate over gun control while American politicians offered their condolences.
"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," US President Donald Trump said.
