First victim of Florida high school massacre pictured

The first person identified as one of the 17 victims shot by a teen gunman at a Florida high school is the school’s athletic director. 

Chris Hixon, 49, was Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School’s athletic director before he was shot and killed when Nikolas Cruz, 19, open fire Wednesday afternoon. 

‘Chris is such a great guy,’ said Coral Springs High School athletic director Dan Jacob, according to the Sun-Sentinel. 

He was shot and killed when Nikolas Cruz went on a rampage on the Parkland, Florida, campus on Wednesday afternoon

Both he and Hixon were wrestling coaches as well. Jacob added: ‘Chris is probably the nicest guy I have ever met. He would give you the shirt off his back. He does so much. That is terrible that it would happen to anybody. It is so senseless.

According to his Facebook, Hixon had previously been employed as South Broward High School as their athletic director.

He had just recently secured the high school a state championship in 2016, among other sport accomplishments. 

Nikolas Cruz, 19, stormed Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland on Wednesday afternoon armed with an assault rifle when he fatally shot 17 people.

Broward Sheriff Scott Israel said Cruz was a former student at the school but had been expelled for unknown ‘disciplinary reasons’ last year.

Cruz was armed with at least one AR-15 rifle and had ‘multiple magazines’ when he stormed the school wearing a gas mask, according to the sheriff.

Investigators are now looking into whether Cruz may have pulled the fire alarm to draw people into halls so he could get a higher death toll.