Nikolas Cruz, who is 23 years old, is charged with killing 17 people at Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, in February 2018. On Monday, his sentencing hearing began.
On February 14, 2018, Cruz, who used to go to Stoneman Douglas High School and was then 19 years old, allegedly went into the school and shot 34 people. He killed seventeen people and hurt seventeen others. It was one of the deadliest attacks on a high school in the U.S.
During the sentencing hearing, the court watched different pieces of media that showed the shooting. Surveillance video of the attack was shown, but only the jury could see it. The rest of the people in the room could only hear it.
Many of the people there were survivors or family members of the people who died, so it was hard on them emotionally. During the sentencing, a family member of the victim begged officials to stop the video, and one of them even yelled “turn it off!”
Nikolas Cruz pleaded guilty on October 20, 2021, to 17 counts of first-degree murder. The New York Times said that his guilty plea meant he would probably not get the death penalty.
Officials and witnesses all say bad things about Nikolas Cruz.
Christine Hunschofsky, who was Mayor of Parkland at the time of the shooting, wrote a tweet in response to Nikolas Cruz’s hearing.
“All of the people in our community who were hurt, including the 17 families who lost loved ones, are in my thoughts and prayers. So many people will have a hard day, week, or month remembering what happened on February 14, 2018.”
During the trial, lead prosecutor Mike Satz started the hearing by condemning Cruz’s actions and calling it a “planned, systemic mass murder.”
“Cruz made a video three days before the attack in which he said, “My name is Nik. I’ll be the next person to shoot up a school in 2018. With an AR-15 and some tracer rounds, I want to kill at least 20 people. It will be a big deal, and if you see me on the news, you’ll recognize me. You’re all going to die. … I’m so excited.”
Dylan Kraemer, who used to go to the high school, talked about what he saw on the day of the attack during the trial. He said that when the shooting started, he and his classmates used a file cabinet to block the door to their classroom.
“The gunman began firing through the window. There were bullets going through. Ducking down. Waiting.”
Kraemer talked about what he saw when the shooting stopped for a short time. He said that two people were dead and that many others had been shot.