Trump set to address nation after mass shooting at Florida school
- President Donald Trump will address the nation on the latest mass shooting on Thursday.
- A gunman killed at least 17 students and staff at a Florida high school on Wednesday, injuring more than a dozen others.
- Trump tweeted on the shooting earlier Thursday.
President Donald Trump is set to address the nation at 11 a.m. ET Thursday following a horrific school shooting in Florida that left at least 17 people killed and more than a dozen injured, White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said.
Trump had yet to speak publicly on the school shooting, which took place at Marjory Douglas Stoneman High School in Broward County, Florida, since the gunman opened fire on students and staff Wednesday afternoon.
Trump tweeted about the shooting earlier Thursday morning.
"So many signs that the Florida shooter was mentally disturbed, even expelled from school for bad and erratic behavior," he wrote. "Neighbors and classmates knew he was a big problem. Must always report such instances to authorities, again and again!"
Suspect Nikolas Cruz, a 19-year-old former student, shot students and staff at the school with an AR-15 semiautomatic rifle, police said. Some lawmakers have already called for new regulations and congressional action in the aftermath of the shooting. Meanwhile, others have said there shouldn't be a "knee-jerk" reaction to the violence.
At a conference of county sheriffs in Washington, DC, Thursday, Attorney General Jeff Sessions promised "we're going to do something" and "we can and must do better" in the aftermath of the latest school shooting.
"It cannot be denied that something dangerous and unhealthy is happening our country," he said.