Nikolas Cruz, the suspect in the mass high school shooting in Florida that left 17 people dead and 15 others injured, arrived at Broward County Jail in Fort Lauderale for booking Thursday morning.
The 19-year-old is charged with with 17 counts of premeditated murder.
This is the moment he was taken into the jail:
Cruz is a former student of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, which has about 3,000 students.
He legally purchased an AR-15 rifle about a year ago.
Cruz has a history of mental illness. The Washington Post reported that Cruz was being treated at a mental health clinic but then stopped treatment, and that his mother passed away around Thanksgiving.
The troubled 19-year-old had also been expelled from the high school last year
“We were told last year that he wasn’t allowed on campus with a backpack on him,” math teacher Jim Gard told The Miami Herald; he said Cruz was in his class last year. “There were problems with him last year threatening students, and I guess he was asked to leave campus.”
The active shooter situation was first reported Wednesday afternoon.
There were initially reports of at least 20 and up to 50 people being shot or hurt at the high school.
