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Wearing just a pair of shorts and one of Donald Trump's infamous 'Make America Great Again' baseball caps, high school killer Nikolas Cruz does target practice in his backyard.

The chilling footage obtained by CNN was taken by a neighbour just months before Cruz, 19, brought an AR-15 assault rifle to his former school and slaughtered seventeen staff and students.

Cruz fires a few rounds with what appears to be a BB gun then walks back into his house.

It comes amid growing outrage in America at how Cruz was able to legally obtain a gun despite a string of warnings about his background.

The deranged loner had been expelled from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School and was reportedly banned from campus.

He had been treated for mental health problems and the FBI had been contacted about a post he made on YouTube under his real name saying: "I'm going to be a professional school shooter."

(Image: AFP) (Image: AFP)

The leader of a local white supremacy group also claims Cruz was a member and that his paramilitary training may have made him a "more effective" killer.

In a speech from the White House, President Donald Trump emphasised school safety and mental health but failed to make any mention of gun policy.

“It is not enough to simply take actions that make us feel like we are making a difference,” Trump said.

"We must actually make that difference."

(Image: CNN) (Image: CNN)

But Trump is likely to face more questions over his links to the tragedy when he visits Florida on Friday.

The shooting has renewed claims that Trump's anti-immigrant slurs have emboldened white supremacists and gun fanatics.

The President was firmly endorsed by powerful gun lobbyist group the National Rifle Association (NRA) during his campaign.

And Jordan Jereb, the leader of the Republic of Florida (ROF),claimed Cruz was a member of the white nationalist organisation because he is a "normal, disenfranchised, young white man".

Jereb claimed Cruz had trained with other ROF members in the Tallahassee area.

Local police are looking into the claims but have so far found no evidence to support Jereb's claims.

"I know he knew full well he was joining a white separatist paramilitary proto-fascist organization," Jereb told the Daily Beast.

(Image: ADL) (Image: Twitter/@JoshCohenRadio) (Image: Internet Unknown)

Jereb insisted neither he nor his organisation had encouraged Cruz to carry out the shooting, but speculated that either "feminism" or anti-Seminism may have played a part.

"I’m not trying to glorify it, but he was pretty efficient in what he did," Jereb continued.

"He probably used that training to do what he did yesterday.

"Nobody I know told him to do that, he just freaked out."

Police in Parkland have yet to offer any motive for the gun rampage at the school where Cruz had been a pupil until he was expelled.

Cruz threw smoke grenades into the corridors, setting off the fire alarm then opened fire on students and staff as they left classrooms.

(Image: AFP) (Image: Getty)

He was armed with a legally purchased AR-15-style assault rifle in the second-deadliest shooting at a public school in US history.

The FBI confirmed today it had been warned about an ominous online comment made by Cruz last September.

"No other information was included with that comment which would indicate a time, location or the true identity of the person who made the comment," FBI Special Agent in Charge Robert Lasky told reporters.

Investigators were unable to find the commenter, he added.

The FBI is conducting an extensive review of how it handled that tip to see if mistakes were made, a federal law enforcement official told Reuters.

Wednesday’s shooting was the 18th in a U.S. school this year, according to gun control group Everytown for Gun Safety.

It stirred the long-simmering U.S. debate on the right to bear arms, which is protected by the Second Amendment of the US Constitution.

(Image: Facebook) (Image: Facebook)

Broward County schools superintendent Robert Runcie called for action on gun laws.

"Now is the time for this country to have a real conversation on sensible gun control laws," Runcie told a news conference.

Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives criticised the Republican leadership for refusing to take up legislation on tightening background checks for prospective gun buyers.

(Image: Broward County Sheriff's Office)

“It’s appalling,” Representative Mike Thompson told reporters.

"Thirty people every day are killed by someone using a gun, and the best we can do is say we need more information?"

The Republican-controlled Congress last year revoked Obama-era regulations meant to make it harder for those with severe mental illness to pass FBI background checks for guns, saying the rule deprived the mentally ill of their gun rights.

At least one member of Trump’s cabinet called for action.

"Personally I think the gun violence, it’s a tragedy what we’ve seen yesterday, and I urge Congress to look at these issues," said Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin.

Fifteen people were injured in Wednesday’s shooting, according to local hospital officials.

Cruz’s court-appointed lawyer said he had expressed remorse for his crimes.

“He’s a broken human being,” public defender Melisa McNeill told reporters.

"He’s sad, he’s mournful, he’s remorseful."

Cruz loved guns and had been expelled from high school for disciplinary reasons, police and former classmates said.

Cruz told police that he had carried out the attack, according to an arrest document released on Thursday, which noted that he made that admission after being advised of his right not to incriminate himself.

The document noted that Cruz took an Uber to the school and carried extra loaded ammunition clips.

In a brief court appearance, Cruz spoke only two words, “Yes ma‘am,” when a judge asked him to confirm his name.

He was ordered held without bond.

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Cruz had recently moved in with another family after his mother’s death in November, according to Jim Lewis, a lawyer representing the family, bringing his AR-15 along with his other belongings.

The family believed Cruz was depressed, but attributed that to his mother’s death, not mental illness, Lewis said.

Victims included an assistant football coach who sheltered students, a social science teacher and multiple students.

People who live on same street as Cruz said he alarmed them by shooting squirrels and rabbits in the neighborhood as well as chickens being raised in a nearby backyard. Several times a year, they observed law enforcement officials at his house.

“Killing animals was no problem for this young man,” said Rhonda Roxburgh, 45, who lived on the block for several years and whose parents continue to live there.