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Nikolas Cruz, an orphaned 19-year-old with a troubled past and an AR-15 rifle, was charged with 17 counts of premeditated murder after Wednesday’s deadly shooting at a Parkland, Florida high school.

Equipped with a gas mask, smoke grenades and multiple magazines of ammunition, he opened fire on students at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, who had emerged from classrooms after an alarm went off. Cruz is reported to have been wearing his uniform from his U.S. Army Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps class when he went on his rampage.

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Photo by MIGUEL GUTTIEREZ/AFP/Getty Images

Who is Cruz, and what led him to this point?

Authorities offered no immediate details about his possible motive, except to say Cruz had been kicked out of the high school, which has about 3,000 students.

It has emerged, however, that the FBI was warned about a suspicious YouTube “school shooter” comment made by a user suspected to have been Cruz in September, and teachers had also been warned not to let Cruz onto school grounds if he was wearing a backpack.

In addition, on Thursday the leader of a white nationalist militia said Cruz was a member of his group and participated in paramilitary drills in Tallahassee. But the leader, Jordan Jereb, later walked back the claims he made to the Associated Press about the group’s ties to Cruz.