The suspect in a deadly rampage at a Florida high school is a troubled teenager who posted disturbing material on social media before the shooting spree that killed at least 17 people, according to a law enforcement official and former schoolmates.
Broward County Sheriff Scott Israel said the 19-year-old suspect, Nikolas Cruz, had been expelled from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School for "disciplinary reasons."
"I don't know the specifics," the sheriff said.
Police and rescue vehicles are shown outside Broward Health North hospital, Wednesday, Feb. 14, 2018, in Deerfield Beach, Fla. A shooter opened fire at a Florida high school Wednesday, killing people, sending students running out into the streets and SWAT team members swarming in before authorities took the shooter into custody. (AP Photo/Joe Skipper)
However, Victoria Olvera, a 17-year-old junior, said Cruz was expelled last school year after a fight with his ex-girlfriend's new boyfriend. She said Cruz had been abusive to his girlfriend.
School officials said Cruz was attending another school in Broward County after his expulsion.
Broward County Mayor Beam Furr said during an interview with CNN that the shooter was getting treatment at a mental health clinic for a while, but that he hadn't been back to the clinic for more than a year.
"It wasn't like there wasn't concern for him," Furr said.
"We try to keep our eyes out on those kids who aren't connected ... Most teachers try to steer them toward some kind of connections. ... In this case, we didn't find a way to connect with this kid," Furr said.
Israel said investigators were dissecting the suspect's social media posts.
CORRECTS SPELLING TO MARJORY NOT MARJORIE Students are evacuated by police from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., on Wednesday, Feb. 14, 2018, after a shooter opened fire on the campus. (Mike Stocker/South Florida Sun-Sentinel via AP)
"And some of the things that have come to mind are very, very disturbing," he added without elaborating.
Daniel Huerfano, a student who fled Wednesday's attack, said he recognized Cruz from an Instagram photo in which Cruz posed with a gun in front of his face. Huerfano recalled Cruz as a shy student and remembered seeing him walking around with his lunch bag.
"He was that weird kid that you see ... like a loner," he added.
Dakota Mutchler, a 17-year-old junior, said he used to be close friends with Cruz but hadn't seen him in more than a year following his expulsion from school.
"He started progressively getting a little more weird," Mutchler said.
Mutchler recalled Cruz posting on Instagram about killing animals and said he had talked about doing target practice in his backyard with a pellet gun.
"He started going after one of my friends, threatening her, and I cut him off from there," Mutchler said.
"I think everyone had in their minds if anybody was going to do it, it was going to be him," Mutchler said.
Broward County School District Superintendent Robert Runcie told reporters on Wednesday afternoon that he did not know of any threats posed by Cruz to the school.
Medical personnel tend to a victim following a shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., on Wednesday, Feb. 14, 2018. (John McCall/South Florida Sun-Sentinel via AP)
"Typically you see in these situations that there potentially could have been signs out there," Runcie said. "I would be speculating at this point if there were, but we didn't have any warnings. There weren't any phone calls or threats that we know of that were made."
However, a teacher told The Miami Herald that Cruz may have been identified as a potential threat to other students. Jim Gard, a math teacher who said Cruz had been in his class last year, said he believes the school had sent out an email warning teachers that Cruz shouldn't be allowed on campus with a backpack.
"There were problems with him last year threatening students, and I guess he was asked to leave campus," Gard said.
FORT WALTON BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Just two days before a sheriff's deputy in Florida shot him dead, U.S. Air Force airman Roger Fortson called home to find out what his 10-year-old sister wanted for her birthday.
It was a typical gesture for the 23-year-old from Atlanta, who doted on the girl and was devoted to helping her, a younger brother and his mom prosper, his family says.
“He was trying to give me everything that I never could get for myself,” his mother, Chantemekki Fortson, said Thursday at a news conference in Fort Walton Beach, where her son was living when he was killed.
He was her “gift,” she said, the man who taught her to love and forgive and served as her co-worker and counselor.
An Okaloosa County sheriff’s deputy shot Fortson on May 3. Sheriff's officials say he acted in self-defense while responding to a call of a disturbance in progress at the apartment complex. But civil rights attorney Ben Crump, who is representing the Fortson family, has accused the deputy of going to the wrong apartment and said the shooting was unjustified.
The Florida Department of Law Enforcement is investigating.
At Thursday's news conference, Chantemekki Fortson held a large framed portrait of her son in dress uniform. He joined the Air Force in 2019, the same year he graduated from Ronald McNair — a majority Black high school in metro Atlanta’s DeKalb County where roughly half of students don't graduate in four years.
Air Force service was a lifelong dream, and Fortson rose to the rank of senior airman. He was stationed at Hurlburt Field near Fort Walton Beach.
“Where we come from, we don’t end up where Roger ended up,” his mother said.
Fortson, a gunner aboard the AC-130J, earned an Air Medal with combat device, which is typically awarded after 20 flights in a combat zone or for conspicuous valor or achievement on a single mission. An Air Force official said Fortson’s award reflected both — completing flights in a combat zone and taking specific actions during one of the missions to address an in-flight emergency and allow the mission to continue. The official spoke on the condition of anonymity to provide additional details that had not been made public.
But his service, like almost everything else he did, had a larger purpose.
“He was trying to help his family have a better life,” Crump said Thursday.
That meant serving as a role model for his 16-year-old brother, his mom said, saving up to try to buy her a house, and getting her a new car. His nickname was “Mr. Make It Happen.”
Chantemekki Fortson recalled that her son, then in high school, accompanied her in an ambulance to the hospital when she was giving birth to her daughter and tried to tell the doctor how to deliver the baby.
The girl and his brother were always in his thoughts. Fortson was assigned to the 4th Special Operations Squadron as a special missions aviator, where one of his roles was to load the gunship’s 30mm and 105mm cannons.
Chantemekki Fortson said her son was injured while loading a plane and was in such severe pain he thought he would die. But he told his mom he had to push through for his brother and sister.
He was also by her side when she got into an accident a short time later and needed to go to the emergency room.
“That’s the kind of gift he was,” she said. "They took something that can never be replaced.”
Thanawala reported from Atlanta. Associated Press writer Tara Copp in Washington contributed.
FILE - This photo provided by the U.S. Air Force, shows Senior Airman Roger Fortson in a Dec. 24, 2019, photo. (U.S. Air Force via AP, File)
FILE - The family of Botham Jean hug after unveiling the street sign for Botham Jean Boulevard which is named after their slain son and brother in Dallas on Saturday, March 27, 2021. (Juan Figueroa/The Dallas Morning News via AP, File)
Airman shot by deputy doted on little sister and aimed to buy mom a house, family says
Airman shot by deputy doted on little sister and aimed to buy mom a house, family says
FILE - This photo provided by the U.S. Air Force, shows Senior Airman Roger Fortson in a Dec. 24, 2019, photo. (U.S. Air Force via AP, File)
