The Location of the Florida High School Shooting Was Recently Named the Safest City in the State

Parkland, Florida — the city where a gunman killed 17 people at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School on Wednesday — was named the safest city in the state last year by a trade association.

The National Council for Home Safety and Security placed Parkland at the top of its 2017 list of Florida’s safest cities, and ranked it third on the list in 2018. The reports appeared to be taken offline on Wednesday, but CNN shared a cached version of the page.

“This city, tucked alongside the Everglade Wildlife Management Area on the east coast of Florida, is an affluent one that’s intentionally designed to mimic a park,” the council wrote in its 2017 report, counting seven reported violent crimes and 186 property crimes in the city during the previous year.

“With tons of character and charm, it has been an increasingly popular place to live, experiencing a population boom of over 821% in 25 years,” the council said.

The city is now the site of the 18th school shooting in the U.S. this year. Authorities have identified the shooting suspect as 19-year-old Nikolas Cruz, a former Stoneman Douglas high school student, who has been taken into custody.

“I believe in the coming days and weeks we’re going to need a lot of support here to help those who’ve been affected by this tragedy — to help them get through it,” Parkland Mayor Christine Hunschofsky told NPR on Wednesday.