Parkland shooting - live: Jury mulls death penalty for Nikolas Cruz as trial set to resume on Monday

Deadliest mass shooting in US history ever to make it to trial goes before a jury

Parkland teacher tells court of moment students took cover in 2018 shooting

Nikolas Cruz, the man convicted of shooting dead 17 people and injuring 17 others at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, on 14 February 2018, is facing the penalty phase of the trial for his crimes.

Cruz was 19 when he went on a shooting spree in what proved to be one of the deadliest school massacres in US history. He subsequently surrendered to police and pleaded guilty to 17 charges of first-degree murder and 17 of attempted murder.

Cruz was a student at the school with a string of disciplinary issues until February 2017, when he was sent to an adult learning centre.

He had arrived at the school with a legally purchased AR-15-style semi-automatic rifle and murdered 14 students and three staff members, injuring 17 more. The shooting sparked a nationwide protest movement demanding tighter gun control and school safety measures.

While prosecutors are seeking the death penalty for Cruz, his attorneys are hoping for a life term.

WARNING - Graphic content: This blog contains testimony, descriptions, and audio content relating to the Parkland shooting.

Key Points

• 17 people were killed at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in 2018
• 12-member jury to weigh death penalty versus life in prison
• Survivors give emotional testimony about their experiences on day
• First officers on scene describe finding victims’ bodies

[22 July 2022 22:02 · Rachel Sharp]

70 bullet cartridges recovered from first floor

Detective Krystyan told the court that he recovered 70 bullet cartridges from the first floor of the school building.

Several of the cartridges were presented as evidence in court.

[22 July 2022 22:07 · Rachel Sharp]

Court is adjourned until Monday

The court was adjourned for the weekend just after 5pm ET on Friday.

The sentencing trial will resume at 9am ET on Monday morning.

[22 July 2022 23:00 · Rachel Sharp]

Day five recap: Harrowing testimony as officers describe finding bodies and pathologist details gunshot wounds

Harrowing testimony was heard in court on Friday as police officers described finding the bodies of innocent students and staff who had been slaughtered moments earlier in the mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.

The sentencing trial for mass killer Nikolas Cruz began on Monday with prosecutors calling survivors and witnesses to the stand throughout the week as the jury weighs whether to sentence him to death or to life in prison.

Day five of the trial focused on the first-hand accounts of some of the first law enforcement officers who arrived on the scene of the massacre in Parkland, Florida, back on 14 February 2018 as well as the graphic autopsy findings of some of the victims.

Detective David Alfin from Coral Springs Police Department recounted the moments when he found the bodies of 14-year-old Jaime Guttenberg and 17-year-old Joaquin Oliver inside the school building.

The officer, who testified that he believes he was the first officer to reach the third floor hallway, spoke of the sobering moment that he then had to move the boy’s lifeless body.

The Independent’s Rachel Sharp has the full story:

[23 July 2022 00:00 · Rachel Sharp]

Remembering the victims of the massacre

On 14 February 2018, 17 students and staff members at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School were murdered in one of the deadliest mass shootings in US history.

The 14 students killed were: Alyssa Alhadeff, Martin Duque, Nicholas Dworet, Jaime Guttenberg, Luke Hoyer, Cara Loughran, Gina Montalto, Joaquin Oliver, Alaina Petty, Meadow Pollack, Helena Ramsay, Alex Schachter, Carmen Schentrup and Peter Wang.

The three adults killed were: Scott Beigel, Chris Hixon and Aaron Feis.

Here are their stories:

[23 July 2022 01:00 · Rachel Sharp]

Missed warning signs, failings, and lessons learned: What happened at Parkland

Almost 70 documented incidents of violence by age 19. Boasts online of being “the next school shooter”. Tips about threatening behaviour ignored by the FBI. Unlocked and unmanned gates at the school. Students and staff left to wander hallways while no active shooter alert was made. A school resource officer who hid from the gunfire for more than 45 minutes.

Nearly everything that could have gone wrong that day did.

It was Valentine’s Day 2018 and students and staff had gone to Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, for the day’s classes as normal.

Some teenagers in the throes of young love had taken in flowers and cards to give to their crushes. Then, that afternoon, everything changed.

At around 2.19pm, 19-year-old former student Nikolas Cruz took an Uber to the school carrying an AR-15 and a bag full of hundreds of rounds of ammunition.

In less than four minutes, he had murdered 17 students and staff members.

The Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Public Safety Commission, launched in the aftermath to investigate both the shooting and the response to it, made several recommendations of what must change going forwards.

The investigation found that there were catastrophic errors in the response to Cruz’s actions that day.

And, ahead of the day itself, a whole host of disturbing warning signs had also been ignored about what Cruz would go on to do.

The Independent’s Rachel Sharp reports:

[23 July 2022 02:00 · Rachel Sharp]

Day one recap: Parkland school killer hides face as horrific videos of massacre played

Memories of that horrific day came flooding back on Monday as a Florida court considered whether to give Cruz, now 23, the death penalty, for killing 17 students and teachers and wounding 17 others.

Prosecutors played cellphone video of the shooting, where shots could be heard ringing out and a voice is captured saying, “Someone help me.”

Prosecutors played cellphone video of the shooting, where shots could be heard ringing out and a voice is captured saying, “Someone help me.”

Danielle Gilbert, a student at the time, captured the videos, and testified that she and her fellow students felt like “sitting ducks.” She openly wept on the stand as the clip was played.

In the gallery, many of the victims’ family members looked on and could be seen consoling one another, while some rushed out of the courtroom entirely rather than relive that day.

The Independent’s Josh Marcus has the full story:

[23 July 2022 03:00 · Rachel Sharp]

Day two recap: Survivors recall high school massacre in harrowing testimony

On day two of the sentencing phase of Cruz’s trial, teacher and student survivors told the jury of their experiences of the massacre.

Student Christopher McKenna testified about his encounter with Cruz in the building’s stairwell on his way to the restroom shortly before the shooting began. He was chillingly told by the then 19-year-old holding an AR-15 to get out because “things were about to get bad”.

Mr McKenna said he ran out of the building and alerted Coach Aaron Feis just before gunshots began. Mr Feis took the freshman away from the scene and then went to investigate. He became one of Cruz’s victims.

At one point, approximately 15 minutes of silent security camera video was also shown in the court.

Several jurors were seen to gasp and cover their mouths in shock, as cameras tracked the shooter on his rampage around the 1200 building of the high school campus in Parkland.

The Independent’s Oliver O’Connell has the full story:

[23 July 2022 04:00 · Rachel Sharp]

Day three recap: Teachers emotionally recall students killed in massacre

In an emotional day of testimony on day three of Cruz’s sentencing trial, students and teachers from the high school described in court the events of Valentine’s Day 2018.

Former students at the school, the oldest still only in their early twenties, were composed in describing the horrors of that day when Cruz, who pleaded guilty last year, rampaged through the freshman building at the school in Parkland. Many of those who spoke were among the 17 injured in the hail of gunfire that ripped through classrooms and hallways on the afternoon of 14 February 2018.

Some of the most heart-wrenching testimony came from teachers, who at times struggled, fighting back tears, as they recounted telling students to shelter, helping them escape, tending to the wounded, and the realisation that some had been killed.

Ivy Schamis was teaching a history of the Holocaust class and leading students through a discussion about the 1936 Olympics in Nazi Germany. She recalled star athlete Nick Dworet correctly knowing that Adolf Dassler founded the Adidas shoe company and that his brother had founded the rival Puma brand.

This moment of pride was ended when the first gunfire echoed through the hallway outside the classroom and shots pierced the glass of the windowed door.

The Independent’s Oliver O’Connell has the full story:

[23 July 2022 05:00 · Rachel Sharp]

Day four recap: Chilling footage shows Cruz’s casual movements in aftermath of shooting

On day four of Cruz’s sentencing trial, jurors were shown chilling footage of Cruz’s calm and casual movements in the immediate aftermath of the mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, on 14 February 2018.

After murdering 17 innocent students and staff and wounding dozens more, Cruz fled the school grounds by hiding in plain sight among the terrified students.

Surveillance footage then captured Cruz casually strolling into a nearby Subway where he approached the counter and bought a drink.

He then went into a McDonald’s, where – unbeknown to both at the time – he sat directly opposite the brother of one of the innocent students he had just shot.

Footage from inside the fast food joint captured the encounter between Cruz and John Wilford around 30 minutes after the mass shooting.

The Independent’s Rachel Sharp has the full story:

[23 July 2022 06:00 · Rachel Sharp]

Day five recap: Harrowing testimony as officers describe finding bodies and pathologist details gunshot wounds

Harrowing testimony was heard in court on Friday as police officers described finding the bodies of innocent students and staff who had been slaughtered moments earlier in the mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.

The sentencing trial for mass killer Nikolas Cruz began on Monday with prosecutors calling survivors and witnesses to the stand throughout the week as the jury weighs whether to sentence him to death or to life in prison.

Day five of the trial focused on the first-hand accounts of some of the first law enforcement officers who arrived on the scene of the massacre in Parkland, Florida, back on 14 February 2018 as well as the graphic autopsy findings of some of the victims.

Detective David Alfin from Coral Springs Police Department recounted the moments when he found the bodies of 14-year-old Jaime Guttenberg and 17-year-old Joaquin Oliver inside the school building.

The officer, who testified that he believes he was the first officer to reach the third floor hallway, spoke of the sobering moment that he then had to move the boy’s lifeless body.

The Independent’s Rachel Sharp has the full story: