President Trump on Thursday gave his first public comments after the school shooting in Parkland, Florida that left 17 dead on Wednesday, pledging to take action “to secure our schools” and “tackle the difficult issue of mental health” to prevent similar tragedies in the future.
“Our entire nation with one heavy heart is praying for the victims and their families,” Trump said. “To every parent, teacher, and child who is hurting so badly: We are here for you, whatever you need, whatever we can do to ease your pain. We are all joined together as one American family, and your suffering is our burden also.”
Earlier Thursday, Trump characterized the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School as a preventable attack, saying there were “many signs” that the shooter, 19-year-old Nikolas Cruz, had been mentally disturbed.
So many signs that the Florida shooter was mentally disturbed, even expelled from school for bad and erratic behavior. Neighbors and classmates knew he was a big problem. Must always report such instances to authorities, again and again!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 15, 2018
Cruz had previously been expelled from the high school he attacked. Acquaintances described him as a “troubled kid,” and a classmate told a local news station Cruz “always had guns on him,” and that he “got kicked out of school multiple times for that kind of stuff.”
Trump did not mention America’s gun laws in either his tweet or his remarks. The Parkland massacre was the deadliest school shooting since Sandy Hook in 2012 and the eighth school shooting resulting in injury or death so far in 2018.
