On the morning of February 14, 2018, a mass shooting occurred at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. The shooter, 19-year-old former student Nikolas Cruz, entered the school armed with an AR-15 rifle and opened fire on students and staff. Seventeen people were killed and seventeen others were wounded.
Cruz was initially identified as a possible suspect by a fellow student who recognized him from a previous fight that had broken out at the school. He was also identified by several other students who saw him carrying a large bag and walking into the school building around the time of the shooting.
Police officers responded to the scene within minutes of the initial reports of gunfire. Cruz was apprehended without incident about an hour later in nearby Coral Springs. Investigators subsequently recovered his backpack, which contained multiple magazines for his rifle as well as extra ammunition.