An 18-year-old student at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, who survived last week’s mass shooting that claimed the lives of 17 people, said the liberal media are politicizing the tragedy to promote a pro-gun control agenda.

“I wholeheartedly believe that the media is politicizing this tragedy,” Brandon Minoff, who was previously interviewed by CNN and MSNBC, told Fox News. “It seems that gun control laws is the major topic of conversation rather than focusing on the bigger issue of 17 innocent lives being taken at the hands of another human.”

Mr. Minoff said there are students at his school in Parkland, Florida, that support both sides of the gun-control debate, but that the students pushing for stricter laws are the ones receiving the most media attention.

“I know many people who are pro-gun and others who support gun control but it seems that the media is specifically targeting those in support of gun control to make it seem as if they are the majority, and the liberal news outlets are the ones that seem to make the bigger effort to speak to these people, and I’m talking from experience,” he said.

Mr. Minoff criticized left-leaning media outlets like CNN and MSNBC for trying to “brainwash” the public into thinking gun control is a necessity.

“After getting home Wednesday night, three hours after the shooting took place, sitting on the couch and putting on the news, it pained me to hear conversations of gun control laws as I had just luckily escaped one of the deadliest school shootings in US history,” he told Fox News.

“And all day Thursday, CNN was interviewing gun experts and specialists to brainwash the audience that gun control is a necessity,” he said. “They even have an army of my classmates trying to persuade other students that guns are unnecessary and should be illegal.”

Mr. Minoff said he supports some gun buying regulations, such as age restrictions and more extensive background checks that include police reports.

“I would also talk about the importance of arming security guards and other trained individuals in schools,” he said. “The only armed person in the school, the SRO, was reportedly nowhere to be found during the time of the attack and it shows in the fact that Cruz managed to vacate the school unscathed.”

Mr. Minoff made similar comments the same day of the shooting during his interview with MSNBC’s Brian Williams, who asked what he would do if he was “an adult in a decision-making position.”

“Gun-wise, I don’t think there’s any way to prevent it,” Mr. Minoff responded. “You outlaw guns, just creates higher demand for it.”

“I think it has to do with mental health, though,” he said. “If he’s been expelled three different times, from three different schools, I think he should be helped out.”

Nikolas Cruz, 19, faces 17 counts of premeditated murder in the Valentine’s Day shooting.