CAIRO, Feb. 15 (Xinhua) -- Egypt offered Thursday its condolences to the United States for the victims of the recent shooting at a high school in the state of Florida that left at least 17 students dead and dozens injured, the Egyptian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

"The Egyptian government and people stand in solidarity with the American people in their hardship," said Foreign Ministry's Spokesman Ahmed Abu Zeid in the statement.

The random mass shooting took place on Wednesday at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in the city of Parkland in Broward County.

Captured shortly after the shooting, the suspected gunman was identified as Nikolas Cruz, a 19-year-old expelled student at the school, and an AR-15 semi-automatic rifle was found at the site.

"Such outrageous acts of violence targeting innocent people only reflect a hostile ideology, inciting hatred and violate human dignity," said the Egyptian statement, stressing "those responsible must be held accountable."

Although Egypt is a main regional ally to the United States, ties between the two countries were cold under former U.S. President Barack Obama after the Egyptian military ousted former Islamist President Mohamed Morsi in July 2013 in response to mass protests.

However, the bilateral relations later improved when Donald Trump assumed the White House and exchanged expressions of praise and cooperation with Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi.?