It began as an ordinary school day that was almost over when gunfire erupted this afternoon. The Broward County sheriff now says that 17 were killed in parkland, florida, about 20 miles northwest of fort lauderdale, at Marjory StonemanDouglas High School, which is attended by about 3,000 students. A suspect was taken into custody. As you see here, a few miles from the scene this afternoon. Well have much more on him in just a moment. We have extensive coverage tonight, beginning with Manuel Bojorquez in parkland, florida. We do caution you some of the video youre about to see is graphic. Manny. Reporter thats right, jeff. And a Law Enforcement source tells cbs news the gunman appears to have pulled the schools fire alarm to create chaos, and then began firing. Those who could, ran, hiding in classrooms, even closets, while the shooting continued. gunfire reporter justs the school day was ending, the shooting started. This cell phone video captured the gunfire and the screams of the High School Students trapped inside their classrooms. Im coming up on the to the east side with the casualties an ambulance standing by. Reporter the site of whose become an alltoofamiliar panic of students fleeing hands raised in single file, only matched by the images of armed Tactical Police racing into the building, looking for the gunman. From the air, emergency crews could be seen tending to the wounded, dressing their wounds. Broward county sheriff scott israel weve had approximately 14 people transported to area hospitals with varying degrees of injuries. Reporter the sheriff says the alleged gunman was captured off campus. He was seen surrounded by police, being placed into custody. He was taken into custody, i believe about an hour after he left stoneman douglas, after he committed this horrific, homicidal, detestable act. I dont know how were alive. Reporter Marjory StonemanDouglas High School freshman Bruna Aleveda says the gunman was just outside her door. For, like, 30 minutes, we were, just, like, praying and crying. And then the police came, and we just got out. Reporter when the lockdown was over, distraught parents raced to the scene, even more emotional teenagers relieved to be outside. School superintendent Robert Runcie its a horrific situation. Its just its just a horrible day for us. Reporter some students are still being reunited with their parents, even hours after the shooting because of the painstaking task of evacuating the high school and interviewing all witnesses, while at the same time ensuring no one else here poses a threat. Glor so manny, theyre trying to get all the students, as much as they can in one place, and then take them to a hotel and reunite them with the parents. Reporter thats exactly right. There is also a walmart nearby, where a lot of students ran to after the shooting. So reunification with parents happening there right now. And another mother came up to me not too long ago about how to get in touch with the f. B. I. Because they were still interviewing her son and she, of course, wanted to see him. Glor all right Manuel Bojorquez at the scene of the shooting in florida. We did speak by phone with a student named rick hayman. He is a senior at the school and he says he knows the suspect. Nick, i know youre still trying to process all this, but how are you doing tonight . Im still im still in shock over everything, like, how it happens in my city, at my school. Glor nick, tell me what you saw this afternoon. Five minutes before the bell rang, like, i was leaving class because of the fire drill, and i see students running past me saying, run, run, dont stop. This isnt a drill, just run. So i started running. And then i heard, like, the gunshots, like, shots were fired all around. And i just started running, and i ran home. Glor did he go by nicholas or nick cruz. He went by nick cruz. Glor ask tell me about him. He was, like ive known him since, like, sixth grade. He was always, like, a juvenile. Like, there was a scenario, in the eighth grade, he, like, took a rock and threw it through a classroom window for no reason. He was, like he was always like that kid that he didnt really have a lot of friends. But, like, if in middle school, like, he was the type of kids if student would ask him to, like, do something funny, he would always, like, he would try, like he would try, like being the cool kid in school. He would always have problems with every single one of his teachers. Every single teacher he ever had, there was a problem. Glor nick, thanks again. All the other students and you, thanks again. Glor all right, after the shooting, the president and first lady posted on twit ther afternoon. The president wrote the first lady, who spent part of the day with young hospital patients in maryland, wrote, my heart is heavy over the School Shooting in florida. Keeping all affected in my thoughts and prayers. Our justice correspondent jeff pegues is in washington. Hes been work his sources and has the latest on this investigation tonight. Jeff. Reporter jeff, investigators are still digging into the suspects background, but heres what we know right now federal Law Enforcement sources have confirmed that the shooter is 19yearold nicholas cruz. He is a former student of Douglas High School. Current students says cruz was expelled some time last year. As school was letting out today, Law Enforcement sources say that the suspect pulled a school fire alarm, and shortly after that, witnesses say that they started to hear gunshots. Somehow, the suspect managed to elude police at the school, but he was picked up later in nearby coral springs, florida. He was handcuffed, and at first loaded into this police cruiser, but then taken out and put on a stretcher before being transported to a hospital. Investigators believe he carried out the School Shooting alone, but authorities will examine his social media and any Electronic Devices for clues. Some students said that he posted pictures of guns on his instagram account. , and jeff, a couple of other things. The suspect was heavily armed. The sheriff just saying that he had countless magazines, and was armed with an ar15style rifle. That is what he used in that attack. Jeff. Glor the student we had spoken to, jeff, nick hayman, had talked about some of the pictures that the suspect had put up on instagram as well in the past. All right, jeff pegues, thank you very much. Earlier today, the man in charge of the sixth Largest School district in the countrycountry, Broward County superintendent Robert Runcie, was at another school presenting a car to teacher of the year. Shortly after posting photos of that celebration online, he was racing to the scene of the tragedy. So i literally have come from giving the teacher of the year a car and celebrating our teachers in our district, to where i am right now. Its a day that you pray every day i get up that we will never have to see. It is in front of us, and i ask the community for their prayers, your support for these children and their families. Its were going to do whatever we can to come together as a community, to pull through this, and we will. Glor we do have more now on some of the shootings that have taken place, both at schools and elsewhere in the past few years as we have reported on and don dahler has more on this. Reporter january 23, a young gunman opens fire inside a crowded School Atrium in kentucky, killing two students, and wounding 14 others. I saw there was a lot of blood everywhere, and people were getting shoved down. Reporter december 7, at a high school in aztec, new mexico. Another young gunman shoots and kills his classmates. I feel bad for the kids who got hurt and for the kids who were in the shooting. Reporter november 14, a gunman in tehama, california, fires 30 rounds into an elementary school, as children hide beneath their desks. Ion of the school kids died, but after the gunman was killed by police, they discovered earlier he had murdered five people, including his wife. We located her dead body, concealed under the floor of the residence. We believe thats probably what started this whole event. Reporter what starts these events is always the subject of detective work, community secondguessing, and familial agonizing. Perhaps the biggest question why is this happening more frequently . This year, there have already been 18 School Shootings. There were seven by this time last year. Since 2013, the number of School Shootings has steadily risen, with the sole exception being 2016, when there were only 48. Only as if that was in any way acceptable or normal. As a sign of the times, more schools now prepare their students for gun violence. Twothirds of School Districts report conducting activeshooter drills, even though only 19 states require them. Cbs news Law Enforcement analyst paul viollis this is something that is so prevalent, its actually rehearsed. Its part of curriculum across the United States making sure that we understand how to properly and expeditiously and safely contain this type of situation and minimize the injuries. Reporter researchers say School Shootings are happening at a rate of one a week. Some are accidental or suicide, where the only victim was the shooter. Jeff. Glor all right, don dahler, thank you very much. Were going to continue to watch whats happening in parkland, florida, both on the scene with Manuel Bojorquez, and in d. C. , monitoring the investigation with jeff pegues. More on the shooting later in the broadcast. Up next, though, here on the cbs evening news, President Trump weighs in on Domestic Violence. People are fighting type 2 diabetes. With fitness. Food. And the pill that starts with f. Farxiga, along with diet and exercise, helps lower blood sugar in adults with type 2 diabetes. Lowering a1c by up to 1. 2 points. Do not take if allergic to farxiga. If you experience symptoms of a serious allergic reaction such as rash, swelling, difficulty breathing or swallowing, stop taking and seek medical help right away. Do not take farxiga if you have severe kidney problems, are on dialysis, or have bladder cancer. Tell your doctor right away if you have blood or red color in your urine or pain while you urinate. Farxiga can cause serious side effects including dehydration, genital yeast infections in women and men, serious urinary tract infections, low blood sugar, and kidney problems. 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Chip reid is at the white house with more on this. Chip. Reporter well, good evening. White house officials tell cbs news that the rob porter situation is a mess that keeps getting worse. And that its creating new divisions among white house staff. It took a full week after the rob porter story became public for President Trump to weigh in on Domestic Violence. I am totally opposed to Domestic Violence of any kind. Everyone knows that, and it almost wouldnt even have to be said. Reporter but its unclear whether that brief statement doll much to quell the turmoil generated by the white houses handling of allegations that former Senior Adviser porter abused his two exwives. One Top White House adviser told cbs news the west wing staff is coming apart at the seams. Another Senior Administration official criticized Top White House staff saying, theyre not telling us the truth, about porter. Adding that it has become evident is that multiple white house officials knew for some time about the allegations of abuse. Some at the white house have blamed chief of staff john kelly. Is general kellys job safe . Thank you all very much. Reporter President Trump did not respond, but some here say kellys job security remains uncertain. Vice president pence today disagreed. John kelly has done a remarkable job as chief of staff for president of the United States, and i look forward to continuing to work with him. Reporter kellys defenders argue he is taking the fall for white House Counsel don mcgahn, who they argue was closer to the porter investigation and should have responded more forcefully. Don mcgahn would be somebody that i would want to talk to. I would want to find out what he knew, when he knew it, what he did with that information. Reporter republican trey gowdy, chairman of the House Oversight committee, announced today that hes opening an investigation into white House Clearance procedures, with a focus on rob porter, and he intends to get to the bottom of it. I hate to say i dont give a damn about the politics of it, but i really dont. Reporter gowdy says he also wants to understand how someone with credible allegations of Domestic Violence in his past could hold one of the Top White House jobs for more than a year. Jeff. Glor all right, chip reid at the white house. Thank you very much. And questions are also being raised about the travel practices of a fifth member of the president s cabinet, this time Veterans Affairs secretary David Shulkin. He traveled to europe last summer with his wife on the departments dime. Nancy cordes is following this story. It was done on our dollar, no taxpayer dollars. Reporter for months, v. A. Secretary David Shulkin has defended his 10day european trip. But in a 97page report today, the v. A. s Inspector General outlined a number of serious derelictions, saying shulkin made misleading statements, improperly accepted wimbledon tickets, and turned an aide into a person travel concierge to plan high tea and roman baths. The report paints a very different picture than shulkin did when he spoke to cbs this morning in november. It was a business trip. We did the business that was always our top priority. Reporter investigators determined that shulkins own chief of staff altered an email from an aide to make it appear that secretary shulkin would be receiving an award in denmark so that his wifes 4300 Airline Ticket would be paid by the u. S. Government. As a veteran, were you offended . Deeply offended. Reporter colorado Republican Mike Coffman chairs the house Veterans Affairs committee and is calling on shulkin to step down. Hes really part of the culture of corruption, that too often defines this organization. I just dont think that he has the moral authority to clean it up. Reporter shulkin is the fifth trump cabinet member to have his travel practices scrutinized. Even republicans were dismayed today to hear that e. P. A. Administrator, scott pruitt, flies first class. I think they ought to ride, like i do, in the back of the bus. Reporter pruitt insists the pricy tickets arent his choice. The decision was made by security personnel. As for shulkin, he continues to say he did nothing wrong, but he did tell the military times today that he will be writing a check to the u. S. Government to reimburse it for part of that european trip. Jeff. Glor nancy, thank you very much. We do want to make one important clarification here tonight. Earlier in the broadcast, as we were speaking to nick hayman, a witness to the florida School Shooting, we showed you his photo. It was not a photo of the suspect. Just want to clear that up right now. Again, a photo of nick hayman from earlier, who had spoken about what he knew of the Florida Shooting suspect. More from florida back on this broadcast in just a moment. But mania, such as unusual changes in your mood, activity or energy levels, can leave you on shaky ground. Help take control by asking about your treatment options. Vraylar is approved for the acute treatment of manic or mixed episodes of bipolar i disorder in adults. Clinical studies showed that vraylar reduced overall manic symptoms. Vraylar should not be used in elderly patients with dementia due to increa