This morning 19-year-old Nikolas Cruz has been charged with 17 counts of murder.  According to Broward County, Florida authorities,  Cruz, a former student at Marjorie Stoneman Douglas High School, allegedly brought his AR-15 assault rifle to school, along with a gas mask and smoke bombs where he randomly shot students attempting to flee.

According to the Sun-Sentinel, the assault rifle was legally purchased.

Cruz was adopted at birth but he lost his father a few years ago to a heart attack and his 68-year-old mother died in November of pneumonia.  Cruz had been living with a family friend.

The New York Times reports Cruz had been expelled from high school for disciplinary reasons.   According to the Times, “people who knew Mr. Cruz described him as a “troubled kid” who enjoyed showing off his firearms, bragging about killing animals and whose mother would resort to calling the police to have them come to their home to try to talk some sense into him.”

According to The Miami Herald, Cruz bragged about shooting rats with his bb gun and he got into trouble for bringing bullets to school in his backpack.

The Herald describes him as “a troubled teen with few friends and an obsessive interest in weapons. Administrators considered him enough of a potential threat that one teacher said a warning was emailed last year against allowing him on the campus with a backpack.

“All he would talk about is guns, knives, and hunting,” said Joshua Charo, 16, a former classmate at the high school. “I can’t say I was shocked. From past experiences, he seemed like the kind of kid who would do something like this.”