The Associated Press is reporting that the suspect in custody from Wednesday's mass school shooting in Parkland, Florida is ex-student Nikolas Cruz. Cruz was arrested nearly one hour after Wednesday's massacre began, according to the Broward County Sheriff.
Cruz was said to have been a former student of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.
Cruz was caught in a nearby town, and was taken to a hospital after being arrested. He was later transferred to a local jail.
As of Wednesday evening, there have been 17 reported fatalities, and multiple injuries, the Broward County Sheriff said in a press conference.
According to the Miami Herald, the ex-student had been flagged as a threat, one teacher told the paper.
“We were told last year that he wasn’t allowed on campus with a backpack on him,” math teacher Jim Gard told the Herald. “There were problems with him last year threatening students, and I guess he was asked to leave campus.”
A former classmate claimed that Cruz once joked about shooting up the school.
"Honestly, a lot of people were saying it was going to be him," a student, who did not provide his name, told WJXT-TV. "A lot of kids joked around like that, saying he would be the one to shoot up the school. But it turns out everyone predicted it. That's it."
Robert Runcie, the superintendent of Broward County Schools, said confirmed that Cruz was an ex-student at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, but was currently enrolled elsewhere within the Broward County School District.
Broward County Sheriff Scott Israel said that Cruz had an AR-15 type weapon, and countless magazines in his possession.
CNN reported that Cruz was expelled from the high school for unspecified disciplinary reasons.
