17 people were shot to death and others wounded Wednesday at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, F

The accused killer in the Parkland school massacre is scheduled to appear in court in Fort Lauderdale at 2 p.m. Thursday to face 17 counts of premeditated murder, Broward Sheriff Scott Israel said at a news conference.

President Trump is addressing the nation now on shooting that happened at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.

:”Our entire nation, with one heavy heart, is praying for the victims and their families,” he said.

Pope Francis issued a statement on the shooting.

“His Holiness Pope Francis was deeply saddened to learn of the tragic shooting that took place at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland,” says a statement issued by the Archdiocese of Miami. “Assuring all those affected by this devastating attack of his spiritual closeness, he prays that Almighty God may grant eternal rest to the dead and healing and consolation to the wounded and those who grieve. With the hope that such senseless acts of violence may cease, Pope Francis invokes upon all of you the divine blessings of peace and strength.”

Shortly before 5:45 a.m. Thursday, the young man accused in the shooting that left 17 people dead was escorted into Broward County’s Main Jail in Fort Lauderdale. Nikolas Cruz was surrounded by Broward Sheriff’s deputies who walked him inside the facility. He was booked into jail on 17 counts of premeditated murder, court records show. Cruz is expected to make an initial court appearance today, likely in the afternoon.

Trump tweeted about the suspect Thursday morning, writing, “So many signs that the Florida shooter was mentally disturbed, even expelled from school for bad and erratic behavior. Neighbors and classmates knew he was a big problem. Must always report such instances to authorities, again and again!”

Some 15 hours earlier, the deadliest school shooting since Sandy Hook erupted as authorities say a 19-year-old man with a troubled past and an AR-15 rifle stalked the the high school’s halls.

Expelled from the school over disciplinary problems, Cruz is accused of squeezing off shot after shot as students took cover under desks, fire alarms blared and teachers barricaded classrooms. By the time it was over Wednesday, 17 people were dead or dying, and 16 were wounded.

Broward Sheriff's Office

Broward sheriff booking mugshot of Nicolas Cruz, 19, who is accused in the mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Plantation, Florida, on Feb. 14, 2018.

Broward sheriff booking mugshot of Nicolas Cruz, 19, who is accused in the mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Plantation, Florida, on Feb. 14, 2018.

(Broward Sheriff's Office)

The AR-15 used in the mass shooting was legally bought by Cruz, attorney Jim Lewis told the South Florida Sun Sentinel. Cruz already owned the gun when he moved in with his friend’s family in northwest Broward around Thanksgiving, Lewis said. “It was his gun,” Lewis said. “The family made him keep it in a locked gun cabinet in the house but he had a key.”

The family did not see him shooting the AR-15 but did see him shooting pellet guns, Lewis said.

Cruz was arrested off campus and was taken to Broward Sheriff’s Office headquarters in Fort Lauderdale. Although some students described Cruz as a normal teenager, others and some of his neighbors called him strange, troubled and depressed.

A firearms enthusiast whose adoptive mother died last November, Cruz talked about shooting lizards, squirrels and frogs, said Trevor Hart, who knew him from Spanish class and said he seemed “a little off.” Police were called to his house numerous times, said a former neighbor, Shelby Speno, and he was seen shooting at a neighbor’s chickens.

“He wore a hoodie and always had his head down,” said Janine Kartiganer, a former neighbor. “He looked depressed.”

Panicked parents streamed to this affluent section of northwest Broward County on Wednesday afternoon, as news helicopters broadcast the incident live, police officers crouched behind cars with guns drawn and students congregated on streets, many crying, hugging and calling friends and family.

In a blurry Snapchat video from inside the school, a man yelled, “Oh, my God,” as the pop-pop, pop-pop of gunshots rang out and students screamed.

Broward Sheriff Scott Israel said 17 people were killed, including both students and adults, with two shot outside the school, one in the street, 12 inside the school and two dying from their wounds at the hospital. Five of the victims remain unidentified, he said. This was the worst school shooting since 26 children and adults were shot to death at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut in 2012.

The scene at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, where multiple people were killed in a mass shooting.

Investigators have begun analyzing Cruz’s social media accounts, which the sheriff said contained material that was “very, very disturbing.”

Coconut Creek police arrested him in a nearby neighborhood in Coral Springs, the Sheriff’s Office said.

Wearing a red shirt, black pants and black boots, Cruz was placed on a gurney.

He was showing signs of labored breathing. So at 4:47 p.m., he was wheeled into Broward Health North hospital in Deerfield Beach. Later he was taken from the hospital to Broward Sheriff’s Office headquarters in Fort Lauderdale.

“People are still undergoing surgery,” Israel said. “We just pray for this city, pray for this school, the parents, the folks that lost their lives. It’s a horrific, horrific day.”

Among those shot was the school’s athletic director, Chris Hixon, according to the school’s assistant athletic director Marilyn Rule. No information was immediately available on his condition.

Seventeen victims were taken to four area hospitals, and two of those victims died at the hospital.

Seven victims were being treated at Broward Health Medical Center in Fort Lauderdale, Dr. Benny Menendez told a crowd of reporters. Two were in critical condition and five were stable.

“We do drills and when this happens we’re ready,” Menendez said. “We practice for this.”

The school, located in an well-off, low-crime neighborhood near the Everglades, will be closed for the rest of the week.

FBI agents were on the scene interviewing students asking for anyone who saw the shooter.

“You’re OK!” one student said as she cried and hugged her friend who had just come out. “You’re safe now, don’t worry.”

Samuel Dykes, a freshman, was on the third floor of the school when he said he heard gunshots and saw several bodies in a classroom

SWAT told the class to keep their eyes forward as they exited the school, he said.

At around dismissal time at 2:40 p.m., staff and students heard what sounded like gunfire and enacted a “code red” lockdown, according to the Broward School District.

“It’s a horrific situation,” Broward County Superintendent Robert Runcie said. “It’s just a horrible day for us.”

Students were streaming down Pine Island Road at 3:30, some of them crying, some talking on cellphones.

Meghan Walton's mascara was running as she walked down Pine Island Road with her mother, Derval Walton. She was waiting in the car line to pick her 15-year-old freshman daughter up when she got the ominous text from her: "Code Red."

"Kids were running out full of blood," Derval Walton said. "Kids were falling in the grass."

Hannah Siren, 14, was in math class on the third floor.

"The people next door to us must have not locked their door," she said, breaking into tears. "They all got shot."

How many?

"10 or ... 7"

Andy Pedroza, 18, of Parkland, was returning to class when he heard shots.

“My instincts kicked in,” he said. He ran to the bathroom and hid in a stall. “The toilet was slippery and I thought I would make too much noise,” he said, so he didn’t crouch on the toilet.

He waited what he thought was at least 20 minutes until the shooting stopped, then he heard the sirens and the police chatter on their radios.

He walked out of the bathroom, and police directed him outside, patted him down and said, “Just run.”

Seventeen people were killed and many others wounded in a shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, a horrific episode of school violence that ended with the arrest of a former student.

The suspect was identified as Nikolas Cruz, 19, who had been expelled from the school....

Seventeen people were killed and many others wounded in a shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, a horrific episode of school violence that ended with the arrest of a former student.

The suspect was identified as Nikolas Cruz, 19, who had been expelled from the school....

President Trump tweeted: “My prayers and condolences to the families of the victims of the terrible Florida shooting. No child, teacher or anyone else should ever feel unsafe in an American school.”

Deputy White House Press Secretary Lindsay Walters said, “We are monitoring the situation,” she said. “Our thoughts and prayers are with those affected.”

Gov. Rick Scott announced plans to come to Broward County immediately. He spoke on the phone with Broward Sheriff Scott Israel, Broward schools superintendent Robert Runcie and Florida Department of Law Enforcement Commissioner Rick Swearingen, according to the governor’s office. He ordered flags on all state buildings to be set at half-staff in “remembrance of the victims of the senseless violence committed at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida.”

All Broward school district athletic events were canceled for that night.

Jay Golden, of Parkland, has a daughter Rachel who was at the school when the first sign of problem came. Rachel, a senior, texted him that there was a Code Red, a shooting, and she didn’t know if it was real or a drill.

At 3 p.m. she still hadn’t been evacuated from the 900 building, but told her father she was safe with 40 other students and a teacher.

“She was crying, she’s scared,” he said. “She’s been texting back and forth. She’s OK at the moment.”

“I’m freaking out,” her father said. “This is crazy, this stuff shouldn’t be going on in these schools. People are crazy. I don’t know what goes on through these people’s minds these days, it’s a scary thing. It’s one of those things - you don’t want to put a metal protector and treat them like prisoners but they have to figure something out. You put your kids in school and it’s supposed to be a safe place and this stuff happens all the time.”

The FBI is asking anyone with information to call 1-800-Call-FBI. The FBI also has set up a site where you can upload any related images and video, or provide any additional information. Here is the site.

Staff writers Paula McMahon, Susannah Bryan, Gary Curreri, Anne Geggis, Skyler Swisher and Scott Travis contributed to this report.

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