Shooting suspect Nikolas Cruz charged, belonged to white nationalist group

School shooting suspect Nikolas Cruz charged with 17 counts of murder, as it emerged he belonged to a white nationalist group.

Nikolas Cruz appears before Judge Kim Theresa Mollica in Broward County Court. Picture: AP.

The teen who allegedly massacred 17 fellow school pupils in Florida yesterday has been charged with 17 counts of murder, as it emerged he belonged to a white nationalist group.

Nineteen-year-old Nikolas Cruz, wearing an orange jumpsuit with his hands cuffed at his waist, listened silently as the charges were read. His lawyer did not contest the order and had her arm around Cruz during the brief court appearance.

The leader of a white nationalist militia called the Republic of Florida said Nikolas Cruz was a member of his group and participated in paramilitary exercises in Tallahassee.

Jordan Jereb told The Associated Press that did not know Mr Cruz personally and that “he acted on his own behalf” and is “solely responsible for what he just did.”

The group wants Florida to become its own white ethno-state.

Mr Jereb said his organisation holds “spontaneous random demonstrations” and tries not to participate in the modern world.

He also said Mr Cruz had “trouble with a girl” and that he believed the timing of the attack, on Valentine’s Day, was not a coincidence.

As the criminal case against the suspect took shape, law enforcement officials confirmed Mr Cruz legally purchased the AR-15 rifle used in the assault at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.

In a national address from the White House, President Donald Trump said he wanted America’s children to know, “You are never alone, and you never will be.” He said no child should have to go to school in fear of getting killed. He planned to travel to Florida meet with victims’ families, explore how to better secure schools and to “tackle the difficult issue of mental health.”

At no point did Mr Trump mention guns or how to control them.

Broward County Sheriff Scott Israel called for giving law enforcement more power to detain people who make threats.

“What I’m asking our politicians to do is go back to places like Tallahassee and Washington, D.C., to give police the power,” the sheriff said, to detain people who make graphic threats or post disturbing material online, and bring them involuntarily to mental health professionals to be examined. Thirteen wounded survivors were hospitalised, including two people in critical condition.

Mr Cruz was ordered held in jail without bail.

It was the nation’s deadliest school shooting since a gunman attacked an elementary school in Newtown, Connecticut, in 2012. The overall death toll differs by how such shootings are defined, but Everytown For Gun Safety has tallied 291 school shootings in America since 2013, and this attack makes 18 so far this year.

AP