Police say a gunman opened fire shortly before the school day ended on Wednesday. The suspected attacker, Nikolas Cruz, has been taken into custody.

Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, on Wednesday just before dismissal at about 2:40pm local time.  At least two people were killed outside the building and one person was killed in the street.  The fire alarm went off inside the school. The gunman entered one of the school buildings where, according to police, he continued his shooting rampage with a semi-automatic AR-15 rifle.  He eventually fled the scene.  

The suspected gunman was later taken into custody in a neighbouring town. The shooting took place in the town of Parkland. It is about an hour's drive from Miami in southeast Florida.  

Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School is a public school with about 3,000 students. 

At least 17 people were killed, including students and adults.  Three people were killed outside the school, while 12 died inside one of the school buildings. Two died at the hospital.  Twelve of those killed had been identified, police said late on Wednesday. Their names have not been released.   

The school's football coach is among the dead. At least 15 others were injured. Five are suffering from "life-threatening injuries", police said.  

Who is Nikolas Cruz?

The suspect has been identified as 19-year-old Nikolas Cruz.  Police say the gunman was armed with a semi-automatic AR-15 rifle and carried "multiple" magazines with him.

According to officials, Cruz was expelled from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School for disciplinary issues. They did not specify when he was expelled or the specifics of his expulsion. He was enrolled in a different high school, local reports said.

Officials have begun going through Cruz's social media accounts and have found "disturbing" posts.

"We have already begun to dissect his websites and things on social media that he was on and some of the things... are very, very disturbing," Sheriff Scott Israel said late on Wednesday.  

'I just ran'

A number od unverified videos from inside the school at the time of the shooting are circulating on social media.  In one video, people are screaming "Oh my God!" as gunshots rang out.  Students at the school have described the "chaotic" scene to local media.  "I just ran. I had my book bag on my back, just in case I got shot in the back," one student told CNN.  "I saw some bodies. It wasn't good," another student told West Palm Beach's WPTV. "We hear bullets coming closer and closer to us, and then we just hear kids screaming," a ninth-grade student told Miami's WPLG news station. "This teacher was apparently trying to help a student and got shot," the student added.

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