The 30th mass shooting of 2018 occurred in Parkland, Florida on Feb. 14. 17 people were killed and over a dozen people were injured. Two of the deaths were at the hospital. Right before 3 p.m., the suspect, Nikolas Cruz, pulled the fire alarm at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School to get students to come outside, gunning them down as they came out of the school.

The school shifted into a code red, indicating an active shooter, sending remaining students into classrooms. Cruz was equipped with an AR-15, which is a semi-automatic weapon, and smoke grenades. He had legally bought the AR-15 about a year before the incident.

Many students said they were not surprised to learn that the shooter was Cruz. He had apparently loved to show off his guns, and had shown other behaviour that lead many students to joke that if there would be a shooting, he would be the shooter. He had been expelled from the high school over disciplinary issues. His first court appearance is expected to be the afternoon of Feb. 15.

According to the Gun Violence Archive, 346 mass shootings occurred in 2017, which is 95 percent of the total days. The Gun Violence Archive describes a mass shooting as four or more deaths in the same location, and the FBI describes a mass killing as three or more people dying in a public place.

This shooting is the 18th school shooting of 2018, and the largest school shooting since Sandy Hook, five years ago, which took the lives of 26 people. This event has again sparked the national conversation about the accessibility of guns and ignoring the warning signs shown by shooters.