Seventeen students were killed on Wednesday during the tragic school shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida.  More information was revealed Thursday about the suspect's history and current affiliations; he was taken into custody yesterday.

Nikolas Cruz was a member of a white nationalist militia, according to TIME. The leader of the militia, Jordan Jereb, confirmed that the group would often participate in paramilitary drills in Tallahassee. Jereb further noted that his group often holds “spontaneous random demonstrations” and wants to create its own white ethnostate, apart from today's modern world.

Jereb also confirmed that he didn't know the 19-year-old suspect on a personal level, but that “he acted on his own behalf of what he just did and he’s solely responsible for what he just did.”

The white supremacist leader did say that Cruz had “trouble with a girl” and believed that the timing of the attack — Valentine's Day — wasn't a coincidence.

Cruz has been charged with 17 counts of premeditated murder.