Police line (illustration)
Police line (illustration)iStock

Nikolas Cruz, the former student suspected of opening fire at the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, may have been identified as a potential threat to fellow students in the past, The Miami Herald reports.

The 19-year-old Cruz was detained by police, briefly taken to a hospital and brought to the Broward Sheriff’s headquarters after Wednesday’s shooting, in which at least 17 people were killed.

“We were told last year that he wasn’t allowed on campus with a backpack on him,” said math teacher Jim Gard, who said Cruz had been in his class last year. “There were problems with him last year threatening students, and I guess he was asked to leave campus.”

The Broward County School District Superintendent, however, told reporters on Wednesday afternoon that he did not know of any concerns raised about the student.

“We received no warnings,” Superintendent Robert Runcie told reporters, according to The Miami Herald. “Potentially there could have been signs out there. But we didn't have any warning or phone calls or threats that were made.”

Broward Sheriff Scott Israel said Wednesday night that Cruz had been expelled from Douglas High for “disciplinary reasons”, but did not provide further details.

He also said that investigators were scouring social-media sites possibly frequented by the shooter and that “some of thing that come to mind are very very disturbing.”