Parkland Shooting Suspect Nikolas Cruz’s Gun Reportedly Jammed With 150 Ammo Rounds Left, Official Says

The shooting at a Florida high school earlier this month that left 17 dead reportedly could have been much worse had the shooter’s gun not jammed, leading him to discard the firearm and flee the scene.

CBS Miami reporter Jim DeFede wrote Tuesday that an official briefed on the investigation told the station that suspected gunman Nikolas Cruz had planned on shooting from a stairwell vantage point, with sources telling DeFede that the plan was foiled when the gun he was using jammed.

“Cruz attempted to create a sniper’s nest by shooting out the glass window in the stairwell, firing 16 rounds into the impact glass. Luckily, the hurricane-proof window did not shatter,” DeFede wrote on Twitter.

Trending: Bill Gates: Microsoft Founder 'Naive' to Say Cryptocurrency 'Kills People'After the firearm jammed, Cruz was said to have dropped it and fled the scene. This alleged jamming is thought to be why Florida Senator Marco Rubio came out against high capacity magazines.

Cruz allegedly still had 150 rounds of ammunition with him when the firearm jammed.

Rubio said during a CNN Town Hall that he would support raising the age at which people can buy rifles and changes in the background check system. He also said he would support getting rid of bump stocks.

The senator was confronted by family members of those killed in the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School during the televised debate. When asked by the father of a 14-year-old victim to “tell me you will work with us to do something about guns,” Rubio replied that the problems brought up by the shooting “cannot be solved by gun laws alone”

The Broward County Sheriff’s Office has faced numerous questions over its alleged lack of response to purported signs alerting authorities to Cruz. Sheriff Scott Israel had said there were only 23 calls to authorities involving Cruz or his brother, though public records reportedly showed there were as many as 45.

Led by high school students, mourners walk around the track of the football field with candles during a community vigil at Newtown High School for the victims of last week's mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, February 23, 2018 in Newtown, Connecticut. Drew Angerer/Getty

In a statement just days after the February 14 shooting, the FBI said that they had received a call which reported concerns about Cruz “as well as the potential of him conducting a school shooting”. The agency said that “protocols were not followed."

“We are still investigating the facts,” FBI Director Christopher Wray said at the time. “I am committed to getting to the bottom of what happened in this particular matter, as well as reviewing our processes for responding to information that we receive from the public. It’s up to all Americans to be vigilant, and when members of the public contact us with concerns, we must act properly and quickly.”