Florida shooting: teen charged with 17 counts of murder

Tallahassee (Florida) [United States], Feb 15 (ANI): The 19-year-old suspect in the Florida school mass shooting has been charged with 17 counts of premeditated murder.

Nikolas Cruz was apprehended on Wednesday and taken into custody after the shooting. He has been officially charged with the killings, according to the Broward County Sheriff's Office.

Cruz was a former student and was expelled from the school for disciplinary reasons.

The incident happened at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, a town about 50km north of Fort Lauderdale, shortly before 3pm as the school day was coming to a close.

According to Sheriff Scott Israel the suspect had an AR-style rifle and "countless" gun magazines.

The authorities had been going through his social-media accounts which contained "very, very disturbing" information, the Wall Street Journal quoted Sheriff Israel, as saying.

The shooting, which claimed 17 lives, left both students and teachers dead and another 15 have been injured. (ANI)

This story has not been edited. It has been published as provided by ANI