New Urban U.S. News- The Parkland Florida School Shooting: What We Know so Far, and What Americans Are Feeling in the Wake of the 17th School Shooting of 2018

A teenager accused of using an AR-15 semi-automatic rifle at Florida high school Wednesday to kill at least 17 people has confessed to carrying out the attack and concealing extra ammunition in his backpack, according to a sheriff's department report.  

Suspect Nikolas Cruz has been charged with 17 counts of premeditated murder. The minimum age to purchase a gun in Florida is 18, and Police have confirmed Cruz's weapon was legal.

21st-century communication about "stranger danger": The screenshot above is a Tweet from a Douglass High School student in the midst of the Parkland shooting. Many students used their phones immediately to alert parents, police, social media, and news outlets that they were under siege.  We have chosen to blur the name of the Twitter user to respect their privacy during this time.

Wednesday marks America's deadliest school shooting since a gunman attacked an elementary school in Newtown, Connecticut, more than five years ago.  The country now numbers at its 17th school shooting since the beginning of 2018. Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, one of Florida's largest schools, has an enrollment of 3,000 students. The shooter, age 19, was expelled from the school last year for disciplinary problems.

Nikolas Cruz told investigators that he shot students in the hallways and on the grounds of Shortly before classes were due to be dismissed for the day: he intentionally pulled a hallway fire alarm so that students would fill out into hallways.  Police say that is when Cruz, equipped with smoke grenades, a gas mask, and multiple magazines of ammunition, opened fire, killing 17 people and sending hundreds of students and faculty fleeing into the streets. Among the deceased is the school's football coach who also worked as a security guard, who died using himself as a human shield to save his students.

As students began to flee, the shooter decided to discard his AR-15 rifle and a vest he was wearing so he could blend in with the crowd. Police recovered the rifle and vest. Cruz was found in a nearby neighboring town after having stopped for a beverage at Subway, and then later for a snack at McDonald's.

Cruz confessed to police authorities he brought more loaded magazines to the school and kept them hidden in the backpack until he got on campus.

As families prepare today to bury victims of another U.S. mass shooting, grief has become mixed with anger across the nation. Talk show hosts and panelists from both sides of the political aisle have weighed in vehemently on the tragedy. 

 Our prayers and condolences are with all suffering in the wake of this brutal massacre.