佛罗里达学校枪击案是美国历史上最严重的枪击事件之一

Florida School Shooting Is One of Deadliest in US History

Students and neighbors describe the suspect in the Florida high school shooting as a troubled teenager. They said he threatened and harassed¹ other students. He talked about killing² animals. And he shared photos of himself on social media posing with guns.

On Wednesday, Nikolas Cruz killed 17 people and injured another 16. He used a semi-automatic rifle, an AR-15, at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. Cruz had been expelled from the school for “disciplinary reasons,” the county sheriff said.

Math teacher Jim Gard told the Miami Herald³ that before Wednesday’s fatal shooting, Cruz may have been identified as a potential threat.

“There were problems with him last year threatening students, and I guess he was asked to leave campus,” Gard told the paper.

Student Victoria Olvera said Cruz had been abusive to his ex-girlfriend. She said he was expelled after a fight with another boy. School officials said Cruz had been attending a different, nearby school since his expulsion.

Cruz was an orphan⁴. His father died many years ago, and his mother died last November.

Cruz lived with family friends in Broward County, north of Miami. A lawyer for the family said they knew that Cruz owned the AR-15. But they made him keep it locked up in a cabinet. He did have the key, however.

The lawyer, Jim Lewis, told the Associated Press the family had no idea that anything could be wrong with Cruz. He said Cruz is “just a mildly troubled kid who’d lost his mom. ... He totally kept this from everybody.”

An official in Broward County told CNN that Cruz was getting treatment at a mental health clinic. But he had not been there for more than a year.

Some students said they recognized Cruz from an Instagram photo. In it, he is posing with a gun in front of his face. The students called him “weird” and a “loner.” One of the students said he was not surprised officials had identified Cruz as the shooter: “I think everyone had in their minds if anybody was going to do it, it was going to be him.”

The city mayor said teachers had tried to help Cruz make connections at school. But they had not succeeded, he said.

School official Robert Runcie said Cruz had not previously⁵ warned the school of an attack. He said, “There weren’t any phone calls or threats that we know of that were made.”

On Thursday morning, Cruz was charged with 17 counts of premeditated murder. And the shooting in Florida became the fourth-deadliest school attack in modern U.S. history.

Here is a look at the others:

1. Bath Consolidated⁶ School, Bath, Michigan

May 18, 1927: Andrew Kehoe, a farmer unhappy about the property taxes being used to fund a rural school, blew it up with a bomb. The explosion killed 45 people, including his wife and 38 children.

2. Virginia Tech University, Blacksburg, Virginia

April 16, 2007: Seung-Hui Cho, a senior at the college, killed 32 people and injured 17 others in the attacks at a residence hall and the Engineering, Science and Mechanics building.

3. Sandy Hook Elementary School, Newtown, Connecticut

Dec. 14, 2012: Adam Lanza killed his mother before going to the school where he killed 20 first graders and six staff members.

4. Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, Parkland, Florida

Feb. 14, 2018: A gunman killed 17 students and injured 16 others both inside and outside the school.

5. University of Texas, Austin, Texas

Aug. 1, 1966: A former Marine⁷ sharpshooter, Charles Whitman, climbed to the observation deck of the university tower. From there, he killed 14 people and wounded 31 others. Before the attack on campus, Whitman had also killed his wife and mother.

6. Columbine High School, Littleton, Colorado

April 20, 1999: Eric Harris, 18, and Dylan Klebold, 17, killed 12 fellow students and one teacher. They also injured 21 people in a planned assault.

7. Umpqua Community College, Roseburg, Oregon

Oct. 1, 2015: Christopher Harper-Mercer killed nine people and wounded seven. He let one person go to deliver a message to the police.

8. Red Lake Indian Reservation, Red Lake, Minnesota

March 21, 2005: Sixteen-year-old Jeffrey Weise killed his grandfather, a tribal⁸ police officer, and his grandfather's girlfriend. Then, armed with his grandfather's police weapons, he went to Red Lake High School, where he killed seven people and wounded five others.

9. Oikos University, Oakland, California

April 2, 2012: One L. Goh, 43, stood up in a nursing class at the Korean Christian⁹ college and ordered all the students to line up against the wall. He killed seven people and wounded three others.

10. California State University, Fullerton, California

Jan. 12, 1976: University custodian¹⁰ Charles Allaway killed seven people and injured two others.

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Words in This Story

teenager - n. someone between the age of 13 and 19 years old

disciplinary - adj. intended to correct or punish bad bahavior

expel - v. to officially force someone to leave a school, a place, or an organization

premeditated - adj. planned in advance

1 harassed   

adj. 疲倦的，厌烦的 动词harass的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• He has complained of being harassed by the police. 他投诉受到警方侵扰。
• harassed mothers with their children 带着孩子的疲惫不堪的母亲们

2 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

3 herald   

vt.预示...的来临，预告，宣布，欢迎

参考例句：

• In England, the cuckoo is the herald of spring.在英国杜鹃鸟是报春的使者。
• Dawn is the herald of day.曙光是白昼的先驱。

4 orphan   

n.孤儿；adj.无父母的

参考例句：

• He brought up the orphan and passed onto him his knowledge of medicine.他把一个孤儿养大，并且把自己的医术传给了他。
• The orphan had been reared in a convent by some good sisters.这个孤儿在一所修道院里被几个好心的修女带大。

5 previously   

adv.以前，先前（地）

参考例句：

• The bicycle tyre blew out at a previously damaged point.自行车胎在以前损坏过的地方又爆开了。
• Let me digress for a moment and explain what had happened previously.让我岔开一会儿，解释原先发生了什么。

6 consolidated   

a.联合的

参考例句：

• With this new movie he has consolidated his position as the country's leading director. 他新执导的影片巩固了他作为全国最佳导演的地位。
• Those two banks have consolidated and formed a single large bank. 那两家银行已合并成一家大银行。

7 marine   

adj.海的；海生的；航海的；海事的；n.水兵

参考例句：

• Marine creatures are those which live in the sea. 海洋生物是生存在海里的生物。
• When the war broke out,he volunteered for the Marine Corps.战争爆发时，他自愿参加了海军陆战队。

8 tribal   

adj.部族的，种族的

参考例句：

• He became skilled in several tribal lingoes.他精通几种部族的语言。
• The country was torn apart by fierce tribal hostilities.那个国家被部落间的激烈冲突弄得四分五裂。

9 Christian   

adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒

参考例句：

• They always addressed each other by their Christian name.他们总是以教名互相称呼。
• His mother is a sincere Christian.他母亲是个虔诚的基督教徒。

10 custodian   

n.保管人，监护人；公共建筑看守

参考例句：

• Benitez believes his custodian is among the top five in world football.贝尼特斯坚信他的门将是当今足坛最出色的五人之一。
• When his father died his uncle became his legal custodian.他父亲死后，他叔叔成了他的法定监护人。