Residents in Parkland, Florida, are in mourning after the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting claimed 17 lives.

The shooter was identified as 19-year-old Nikolas Cruz, who purchased an AR-15 legally a year ago, according to the Associated Press.

Cruz, who was orphaned and troubled according to reports, has been charged with 17 counts of murder in the deadliest high school shooting since Columbine where 13 people were gunned down and both shooters committed suicide. 

Blavity initially reported that the shooting took place around class dismissal, and the school went into lockdown immediately as the sounds of gunshots broke out. Video from students, while the shooter was active, showed the horror as Cruz, who is reportedly also part of a white supremacist group, wandered around the school. After being apprehended by authorities, Cruz was hospitalized for labored breathing, per the AP, and was held without bond and booked into jail.

Politicians and other Americans took to Twitter to comment on yesterday's tragedy as well as the 17 other mass shootings that have happened this year.

Per usual, many offered their "thoughts and prayers," but that's simply not enough. People are dying because gun laws in America are too lax  — meanwhile, conservatives demand that the shooting not be politicized while liberals have renewed their call for gun law reform.   

President Barack Obama also issued a statement calling on the need for stronger gun laws: 

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