The suspected shooter in a rampage that killed at least 17 people at a South Florida high school Wednesday stopped at Walmart and McDonalds in the moments after the shooting.
Broward County Sheriff Scott Israel provided a detailed timeline of the events in a Thursday press conference after interviewing some 2,000 people in the 24 hours since the attack.
Nikolas Cruz, believed to be the gunman, fled from the school on foot with crowds of students after carrying out the deadliest school shooting in the U.S. since Sandy Hook in 2012.
Cruz took an Uber to Stoneman Douglas High School, where he arrived at 2:19 p.m., Israel said. At 2:21:33, he began firing the AR-15 he brought into building 12 of the school in a soft black case.
He fired rounds into four classrooms on the first floor of the building – firing into two of the rooms two different times. He then took the west staircase to the second floor, where he fired into one room, striking one victim.
Cruz continued up the east stairwell to the third floor, where he dropped his gun and case and left the school with the masses.
“The suspect crossed fields and ran west along with others who were fleeing and tried to mix in with the group that were running away, fearing for their lives,” Israel said.
Cruz is then believed to have gone to Walmart, where he bought a drink at a Subway restaurant. After leaving Walmart, Israel said Cruz went to McDonalds, where he “sat for a short period of time.”
Forty minutes after leaving McDonalds, Cruz was arrested without incident in a residential neighborhood about a mile-and-a-half from Stoneman Douglas High School. An officer from neighboring Coconut Creek police made the arrest, Israel said.
The sheriff then read the names of the 17 deceased victims:
"I wanted to honor the deceased victims of this horrific killing," Israel said. "I wanted to pay homage to these families, and to the victims."
"May they rest in peace."