Newly emerged photos appear to show that Florida school shooter Nikolas Cruz might have attempted to shoot from a window on a higher floor in an effort to gun down more students fleeing below.
One of the photos shows what looks like multiple bullet holes on the inside of a third-floor teachers’ lounge window, reported Fox News, citing unnamed sources.
NEW PICTURES obtained by Fox News show #Parkland shooter might’ve tried to shoot out a window to use as a perch to fire down on people below. Sources say many more could’ve been killed or hurt but the hurricane-resistant windows wouldn’t shatter. Full story 530 & 7pm on @FoxNews pic.twitter.com/bzflApV0W7
— Matt Finn (@MattFinnFNC) March 3, 2018
Law enforcement sources told Fox News that it appeared Cruz might have tried to create a sniper’s vantage point but his efforts were thwarted by hurricane-proof windows that could not be shattered.
An official briefed on the shooting told CBS4 News that Cruz had fired 16 rounds into the window. The suspect then attempted to reload but after changing magazine clips, the weapon was believed to be jammed forcing Cruz to abandon his gun and flee the building with the other students, according to unnamed sources.
This is the third floor window at Stoneman Douglas where Nikolas Cruz tried to set up a sniper’s nest. Bullet holes show how the impact glass held together frustrating Cruz and saving lives. @CBSMiami #stonemanshooting #msdstong pic.twitter.com/tOw2yIzcOG
— Jim DeFede (@DeFede) February 27, 2018
“What you are looking at is the third-floor teachers’ lounge, which faces west, Cruz was trying to shoot those windows out from the inside, creating a perch so he could act like a sniper — little did he know, those windows are hurricane windows and they won’t shatter. Had he been able to get those shot out, who knows how many more people would’ve died, because he would’ve had sight to a wide-open courtyard where the other buildings funnel,’ the source told the news station.
An official briefed on the shooting investigation tells @CBSMiami the carnage could have been far worse. Investigators believe self-confessed gunman Nikolas Cruz planned on using a vantage point on the third-floor stairwell on the west side of the building to shoot at students…
— Jim DeFede (@DeFede) February 27, 2018
Cruz attempted to create a sniper’s nest by shooting out the glass window in the stairwell, firing 16 rounds into the impact glass. Luckily, the hurricane proof window did not shatter. Cruz then attempted to reload, and after changing magazine clips, the weapon …
— Jim DeFede (@DeFede) February 27, 2018
…is believed to have jammed, according to three sources familiar with the investigation. Frustrated, and with police now responding, Cruz dropped the gun in the stairwell, ran down to the ground floor and fled the building with the students.
— Jim DeFede (@DeFede) February 27, 2018
In a second photo, boxes of evidence appeared to be stacked in the school, some with biohazard labeling on them, according to Fox News.
“By the looks of it, the ones with orange biohazard are anything from that day in the school that has blood or bodily matter on them; the rest is probably anything that was left behind that was unclaimed or evidence from the school shooting,” a law enforcement source who reviewed the pictures told the news station.
Cruz, 19, is accused of open firing at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School on Feb. 14 which left 17 students and teachers dead. He has been charged with 17 counts of premeditated murder.
The building on the school campus where 17 people were murdered is expected to be demolished. Florida lawmakers decided on Feb. 15 to provide the resources needed to demolish the building as it will be traumatic for students to have to return to it.
“This building has to come down,” Sen. Bill Galvano told the Miami Herald during a visit to the school.
“It will still be very difficult for students to return,” Galvano said. “But that particular building should be razed, and the memory of the perpetrator erased and a memorial honoring the victims and their families be put in its place.”
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