Broward County's Marjorie Stoneman Douglas High School was the latest site of deadly carnage at the hands of a mass school shooter Wednesday afternoon.
At least 17 people died when a former student allegedly stepped onto school grounds with an AR-15 assault rifle, set off a fire alarm, and began mowing people down as they tried to evacuate.
Broward County Sheriff Scott Israel identified 19-year-old Nikolaus Cruz as the shooter. Cruz had reportedly been expelled due to disciplinary issues.
"This is catastrophic," Israel said, according to USA Today. "There are really no words."
On Twitter, a student whose Twitter username is @TheCaptainAidan, posted a photo of his classroom taken from underneath the classroom chair where he hid as the shooting unfolded.
In the wake of the shooting, reactions poured in from elected officials and organizations throughout the state.
Namely, gun safety advocates called for more background checks for gun buyers, given how most of the most recent major mass shootings involved an AR-15 assault rifle.
“Today’s shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School is a nightmare for any parent," said Fort Lauderdale resident Kathryn Reeve, who volunteers with the Florida chapter of the pro-gun safety group Moms Demand Action. "While watching police and paramedics respond on the news, thousands of parents are waiting to find out if their child is ok, if they will come home for dinner tonight, or if they are even alive. Some parents may never see their children again. This simply is not the world we want to live in — and anyone who says we must accept this as normal is wrong."
Reflecting on the number of mass shootings that have taken place in recent years, Florida Democratic Party chair Terrie Rizzo decried the notion that it's too soon to bring up policies that allow virtually unfettered access to guns.
"It is a painful to again have to say the words mass shooting and Florida in the same sentence," she said in a written statement, clearly referencing the 2016 Pulse nightclub shooting in Orlando. "There are no words to describe the immense heartache the students, parents, staff, emergency responders and community must be feeling right now. Our hearts are breaking. Our prayers and thoughts are with Parkland tonight."
Chris King, a Democratic candidate for governor from Orlando, said yet another round of "thoughts and prayers" offered in the wake of yet another violent tragedy is meaningless without action.
“We are told by politicians that debates over gun laws are debates over freedom," King said in a statement. "I think there is no freedom when a mother cannot drop off her son at school without fearing it could be the last time she sees him...We have failed, completely, to enact meaningful legislation to prevent mass shootings in this decade. This is an epidemic the United States suffers in a way no other developed country on earth does. Our thoughts and prayers are not enough...There are commonsense steps we can take that would keep weapons out of dangerous hands. It's time to act.”
U.S. Sen. from Florida Marco Rubio, a Republican who has long supported limited gun safety and virtually limitless access to guns, tweeted "today is that terrible day you pray never comes."
