The Broward Sheriff’s Office said that the shooter who left 14 people injured at a Florida high school is now in custody
Gunfire appeared to break out at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., just before noon.
“It’s catastrophic. There really are no words,” said Sheriff Scott Israel.
Earlier, the sheriff had said that police were responding to the scene and that there were “reports of victims.”
The shooter is “not a current student,” the sheriff tweeted.
The Broward School district said that “students and staff heard what sounded like gunfire” just before classes were dismissed.
When reports of a shooter first came in, SWAT team members swarmed in and locked down the building.
Ambulances converged on the scene as emergency workers appeared to be treating possibly wounded people on the sidewalks.
Television footage showed police in olive fatigues, with weapons drawn, entering the school, then dozens of children frantically running and walking quickly out.
Some students exited the building in single-file rows with hands raised overhead to show they carried no weapons. Others held onto other students as they made their way out past helmeted police in camouflage with weapons drawn.
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“We are receiving reports of possible multiple injuries. Law enforcement is on site,” the district tweeted.
Students have tweeted images from the scene, showing a lockdown that has them hiding under desks.
“My school is being shot up and I am locked inside. I’m f***g scared right now,” tweeted one.
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Florida Governor Rick Scott and Sen. Marco Rubio both tweeted that they had been briefed on the situation, with Scott noting that he had spoken to President Donald Trump.
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NYPD Chief of Counterterrorism James Water said the the unit is monitoring the situation.
The nearby Coral Springs Police Department asked parents to not call 911 to report the incident and if contacting their children inside the school, to ask them to remain calm.
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More to come.
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