February 14, 2018

Sheriff: At Least 17 Are Dead After Florida School Shooting

The suspect, 19, is in police custody.

A law enforcement officer talks with students, Wednesday, Feb. 14, 2018, in Parkland, Fla. A shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School sent students rushing into the streets as SWAT team members swarmed in and locked down the building. Wilfredo Lee/AP

Fight disinformation: Sign up for the free Mother Jones Daily newsletter and follow the news that matters.

Update, 6:35 pm ET: At a press conference Wednesday evening, Broward County Sheriff Scott Israel confirmed that 17 are dead after a school shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla. Israel confirmed the perpetrator was Nikolas Cruz, 19, who was previously expelled from the school for disciplinary reasons.

Update, 4:37 pm ET: Broward County Sheriff’s Office confirmed that at least 14 victims are being treated for injuries related to the shooting. Broward County Public Schools superintendent Robert Runcie told CBS News that there were “numerous fatalities,” calling the situation “horrific.”

A shooting at Stoneman Douglas High School in South Florida resulted in multiple injuries, local news outlets are reporting on Wednesday afternoon. Broward County Sherriff’s Office tweeted that they were responding to an active shooter and there were “reports of victims.” More than an hour later, the sheriff’s office followed up with a tweet that the shooter was in custody. 

Broward County Schools tweeted that the high school went into lockdown after students and staff heard gunfire this afternoon. 

White House Deputy Press Secretary Lindsay Walters said that President Donald Trump “has been made aware of the school shooting in Florida,” according to a pool report. “We are monitoring the situation. Our thoughts and prayers are with those affected.”

Florida Gov. Rick Scott tweeted that he spoke to the president about the shooting and that his “thoughts and prayers are with the students, their families, and the entire community.”

The shooting comes weeks after shootings at two schools in Kentucky and Texas. 

This is a developing story and Mother Jones will update as more information becomes available. 

THE FACTS SPEAK FOR THEMSELVES.

At least we hope they will, because that’s our approach to raising the $350,000 in online donations we need right now—during our high-stakes December fundraising push.

It’s the most important month of the year for our fundraising, with upward of 15 percent of our annual online total coming in during the final week—and there’s a lot to say about why Mother Jones’ journalism, and thus hitting that big number, matters tremendously right now.

But you told us fundraising is annoying—with the gimmicks, overwrought tone, manipulative language, and sheer volume of urgent URGENT URGENT!!! content we’re all bombarded with. It sure can be.

So we’re going to try making this as un-annoying as possible. In “Let the Facts Speak for Themselves” we give it our best shot, answering three questions that most any fundraising should try to speak to: Why us, why now, why does it matter?

The upshot? Mother Jones does journalism you don’t find elsewhere: in-depth, time-intensive, ahead-of-the-curve reporting on underreported beats. We operate on razor-thin margins in an unfathomably hard news business, and can’t afford to come up short on these online goals. And given everything, reporting like ours is vital right now.

If you can afford to part with a few bucks, please support the reporting you get from Mother Jones with a much-needed year-end donation. And please do it now, while you’re thinking about it—with fewer people paying attention to the news like you are, we need everyone with us to get there.

payment methods

THE FACTS SPEAK FOR THEMSELVES.

At least we hope they will, because that’s our approach to raising the $350,000 in online donations we need right now—during our high-stakes December fundraising push.

It’s the most important month of the year for our fundraising, with upward of 15 percent of our annual online total coming in during the final week—and there’s a lot to say about why Mother Jones’ journalism, and thus hitting that big number, matters tremendously right now.

But you told us fundraising is annoying—with the gimmicks, overwrought tone, manipulative language, and sheer volume of urgent URGENT URGENT!!! content we’re all bombarded with. It sure can be.

So we’re going to try making this as un-annoying as possible. In “Let the Facts Speak for Themselves” we give it our best shot, answering three questions that most any fundraising should try to speak to: Why us, why now, why does it matter?

The upshot? Mother Jones does journalism you don’t find elsewhere: in-depth, time-intensive, ahead-of-the-curve reporting on underreported beats. We operate on razor-thin margins in an unfathomably hard news business, and can’t afford to come up short on these online goals. And given everything, reporting like ours is vital right now.

If you can afford to part with a few bucks, please support the reporting you get from Mother Jones with a much-needed year-end donation. And please do it now, while you’re thinking about it—with fewer people paying attention to the news like you are, we need everyone with us to get there.

payment methods

We Recommend

Latest

Sign up for our free newsletter

Subscribe to the Mother Jones Daily to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

Get our award-winning magazine

Save big on a full year of investigations, ideas, and insights.

Subscribe

Support our journalism

Help Mother Jones' reporters dig deep with a tax-deductible donation.

Donate