Nikolas Cruz, accused Florida school shooter, appeared in court Thursday afternoon and was ordered held without bond after a brief hearing in which he stood silently with his head down in a heavily guarded Fort Lauderdale courtroom.
Cruz is charged with 17 counts of murder after Wednesday's shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland.
The leader of a white supremacist group said on Thursday that Nikolas Cruz was a member of his group and had participated in paramilitary drills.
Jordan Jereb, the leader of a group called Republic of Florida, told The Associated Press that he didn’t know Nikolas Cruz personally and that “he acted on his own behalf of what he just did and he’s solely responsible for what he just did.”
The F.B.I. said it received information about a comment made on a YouTube channel which has been attributed to the gunman, but was unable to identify the person.
The authorities said the AR-15 rifle that Mr. Cruz used in the attack was purchased legally, at Sunrise Tactical Supply in Florida, according to a federal law enforcement official.