A total of 18 persons were Wednesday massacred in Florida’s Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in school shooting seen as the deadliest in the United States of America.
The attack on Florida’s school is the first this year in Florida and the 18th within the first 45 days of the year in the US, according to data from Everytown for Gun Safety, a gun control advocacy organization.
The 19-year-old Nikolas Cruz had entered the high school on Wednesday afternoon and launched an attack. Twelve people were found dead inside the school, two were killed outside the building, one in the street, and two died later in hospital from their injuries.
According to Broward County Sheriff, the killer was armed with an AR-15 rifle and “multiple magazines”. Cruz was formerly a student at Douglas, but was expelled for disciplinary reasons.
A teacher at the school said staff had been warned not to let him back on campus. The suspect had reportedly been receiving treatment for mental health issues.
However, the gunman was arrested at the scene and is being questioned by investigators.
Several of the deadliest mass shootings in modern U.S. history have taken place in schools.
It’s not even two full months into 2018 and there have already been 18 school shootings — more than twice as many as this time last year.
There were a total of 65 school shootings in 2017, seven of which happened through Feb. 14. The last year that neared 2018’s total for the first 45 days of the year was 2014, in which there were 15 school shootings midway through February. There were 58 total school shootings in 2014.
Everytown has been tracking school shootings in elementary schools, middle schools, high schools and universities since 2013. They report any time a firearm is discharged within a school building or on campus, whether accidentally or intentionally and whether or not anyone has been harmed.
“When you look at all the ways children are impacted by gun violence, you realize what a tremendous problem we have as a country,” said Sarah Tofte, director of research and implementation at Everytown. “We really do deserve to live in a place where children are free from gun violence in their homes, schools and communities.”
According to Everytown, there have been about 291 school shootings since 2013, which breaks down to about one per week.
The massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School is the 180th mass shooting since 2009 and the third in 2018. Everytown for Gun Safety defines a mass shooting as a gun attack that claims the lives of four or more people. Children make up 25 percent of fatalities in mass shootings, Tofte said.
Several of the deadliest mass shootings in modern U.S. history have taken place in schools. In 2007, 32 victims were killed at Virginia Tech University. The 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting left 26 dead.
(CBNC)
