WPLG
(PARLAND, Fla.) –A gunman opened fire at a Southern Florida high school today, leaving “numerous” people dead and sending students running for their lives, Broward Superintendent Robert Runcie told a local ABC affiliate.
At least 14 victims are being taken to hospitals from the incident at Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, the Broward Sheriff’s Office said, though their conditions were not immediately clear.
The suspect is in custody but the scene is still active, the sheriff’s office said.
Student Michael Katz told ABC News that at the end of the day he “heard what sounded like a garbage truck like banging.”
“Then also I hear, ‘Boom, boom, boom.’ I hear screaming everywhere,” he said. “I just got underneath my teacher’s desk.”
“We had police invade the school, and we were taken out,” Katz said. “Fortunately, my father was there to pick me up.”
One mother shaking with worry told ABC affiliate WPLG her daughter said she was OK, huddled in a locked classroom.
“She’s terrified,” the mother said. “She said she heard the gunshot.”
Students with bookbags were seen sprinting out of the building as authorities with guns drawn swarmed the school. Other students were seen lined up one by one, leaving the area in an orderly fashion. Some students were hysterical, reported WPLG.
Freshman student Samuel Dykes told the Orlando Sentinel that he was on the third floor of the school when he heard gunshots.
Officers told students to look forward as they evacuated, but Dykes told the newspaper that he saw several bodies in a classroom.
“I’m glad that she’s able to text,” she added.
Another mother told the affiliate that her daughter “keeps telling me to stay away. ‘Be safe, Mom, stay away.'”
“I won’t stay away,” she said, telling her daughter, “I’m your mother.”
The school district said in a statement that close to “dismissal, students and staff heard what sounded like gunfire. The school immediately went on lockdown but is now dismissing students. We are receiving reports of possible multiple injuries. Law enforcement is on site.”
Officials urged the public to avoid the area.
There are over 3,000 students at the school, according to its website.
The FBI and ATF are responding.
President Donald 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.”
Additional information was not immediately available.
This story is developing. Please check back for more updates.
Copyright © 2018, ABC Radio. All rights reserved.
Additional information was not immediately available.
This story is developing. Please check back for more updates.
Copyright © 2018, ABC Radio. All rights reserved.