KARACHI: Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Chairperson Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari expressed sorrow over the Florida school carnage on Thursday and stated that there is a strong need for the United States and its administration to search for undetected reasons that lead to such massacres.
“Our hearts go out to the victims and their deeply bereaved families,” the PPP chairperson said, adding that such cowardly attacks in schools in the developed states of America have sent shock waves across the world.
At least 17 people were killed on Wednesday in a shooting rampage at a Florida high school apparently carried out by a former student, United States (US) media reported.
ABC News, citing two unnamed law enforcement officers at the scene, put the death toll at 15, while CNN, also citing unnamed law enforcement sources, said 16 people had been killed.
The attack took place shortly before dismissal at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, about 45 miles (72 km) north of Miami, sending hundreds of panicked students fleeing into the streets while dozens of police and emergency services personnel swarmed the area.
“There are numerous fatalities. It’s a horrific situation,” Broward County Schools Superintendent Robert Runcie told reporters. He said the school district had gotten no warning of a potential shooter and that there was no evidence of more than one shooter.
The gunman, about 18 years old, surrendered to police quietly, said Broward County Sheriff Scott Israel.
