Nikolas Cruz Instagram: 'Disturbing' social media accounts show Parkland school shooting suspect's terrifying weapons arsenal

Shooting suspect apparently 'posed in Make America Great Again' baseball cap on social media ++++ Series of chilling posts on account purportedly owned by suspect show arsenal of weaponry ++++ 17 dead and dozens injured in US school shooting ++++ Follow the latest on this story LIVE here
Robin de Peyer16 February 2018

The suspect in a mass shooting at a US high school which left at least 17 people dead posted disturbing images of his weapons arsenal on social media.

Nikolas Cruz, 19, went on a deadly rampage at a school in Parklands, Florida on Monday. He was later arrested.

Authorities described the social media accounts belonging to Cruz - who was expelled from the school, Marjory Stoneman Douglas High, for disciplinary reasons – as “very, very disturbing”.

In several Instagram accounts believed to belong to him, he is seen posing with a selection of knives and guns, showing off about his weapons.

Other posts show a terrifying arsenal of weapons laid out on a bed, as well as captions mocking Islam.

Florida shooting suspect Nikolas Cruz's Instagram pictures

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One of the accounts reported to have belonged to him had a profile picture of a masked man in a ‘Make America Great Again’ baseball cap, of the kind used by Donald Trump in the US president’s election campaign.

Other images taken from an Instagram account purportedly belonging to Cruz

In almost all of the pictures, the man is seen wearing a black shirt or scarf over his face to hide his identity.

One of the posts refers to shooting as “group therapy”, while another asked questions about background checks associated with buying a specific rifle.

An account reported to have belonged to him bears this profile picture of a masked man in a ‘Make America Great Again’ baseball cap

A post from January 2016 shows an advert for a pump action shotgun, alongside the caption: “I plan on getting this but I need more information on it. If someone could give advice on how much I’m spending and background checks please to god let me know.”

Another image taken from an Instagram account thought to belong to Cruz

Some of his former classmates said Cruz was obsessed with guns. One told ABC News: “Everything he posts is about weapons. It’s sick.”

Broward County Sheriff Scott Israel described posts on Cruz’s social media accounts, which have now been deleted, as “very, very disturbing”.

An account purportedly belonging to Cruz bears this photo of someone aiming a holographic weapon sight at houses out of a window

The Sheriff said Mr Cruz killed three people outside the school before entering the building and killing another 12. Two other people later died after being taken to hospital, where three more are critically injured.

It is the deadliest school shooting since 26 people were killed at Sandy Hook school in Connecticut in 2012.

Florida high school shooting - February 2018

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Broward County Mayor Beam Furr told CNN that the shooter was getting treatment at a mental health clinic for a while, but that he hadn't been back to the clinic for more than a year.

"It wasn't like there wasn't concern for him," Furr said.

"We try to keep our eyes out on those kids who aren't connected ... Most teachers try to steer them toward some kind of connections. In this case, we didn't find a way to connect with this kid.”

Dakota Mutchler, a 17-year-old junior at the school in Parkland, said he used to be close friends with Cruz but hadn't seen him in more than a year following his expulsion from school.

"He started progressively getting a little more weird," Mutchler said.

People are led away from the scene of the mass shooting in Florida
AP

Mutchler recalled Cruz posting on Instagram about killing animals and said he had talked about doing target practice in his backyard with a pellet gun.

Daniel Huerfano, a student who fled Wednesday's attack, said he recognized Cruz from an Instagram photo in which Cruz posed with a gun in front of his face. Huerfano recalled Cruz as a shy student and remembered seeing him walking around with his lunch bag.

"He was that weird kid that you see ... like a loner," he added.

Suspect: Nikolas Cruz as he is arrested by police (REUTERS)
Reuters

Broward County School District Superintendent Robert Runcie told reporters on Wednesday afternoon that he did not know of any threats posed by Cruz to the school.

"Typically you see in these situations that there potentially could have been signs out there," Runcie said. "I would be speculating at this point if there were, but we didn't have any warnings. There weren't any phone calls or threats that we know of that were made."

Students are comforted by family members after the shooting in Florida
EPA

However, a teacher told The Miami Herald that Cruz may have been identified as a potential threat to other students. Jim Gard, a math teacher who said Cruz had been in his class last year, said he believes the school had sent out an email warning teachers that Cruz shouldn't be allowed on campus with a backpack.

"There were problems with him last year threatening students, and I guess he was asked to leave campus," Gard said.

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