Parkland shooting

Jurors determined Thursday that Nikolas Cruz should be sentenced to life in prison without possibility of parole for a 2018 school shooting in Parkland, ...

Cruz, who at the time of the shooting was 19 and had been expelled from the high school, had apologized for his crimes and asked to be given a life sentence without the possibility of parole in order to dedicate his life to helping others. Cruz, 24, had pleaded guilty last year to premeditated murder at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com

Nikolas Cruz pleaded guilty a year ago to killing 14 students and three staff members at Marjory Stoneman Douglas high school.

This decision only makes it more likely that the next mass shooting will be attempted.” Two Stoneman Douglas students later killed themselves, one a close friend of one of the victims. [He] pressed the barrel of his weapon to my daughter’s chest, that doesn’t outweigh that what’s-his-name had a tough upbringing? My beautiful Gina, the other sons, daughters, spouses and fathers, they were the victims here. Others were in tears and hugged each other as the verdicts were read. “Society has to re-examine who and what is a victim.

Fourteen students and three staff members were killed in the rampage at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School on Valentine's Day in 2018.

Cruz's rampage is the deadliest mass shooting to go to trial in the U.S., according to The Associated Press. A previous version of this story said Cruz has been sentenced to life in prison. Late that day, the jury asked to see the murder weapon. "You now know that Nikolas is a brain-damaged, broken, mentally-ill person, through no fault of his own," Cruz's lawyer, Melissa McNeil, stated in closing arguments. Prosecutors had pushed for the death sentence. "That you can allow 17 dead and 17 others shot and wounded and not give the death penalty. Following the jury's recommendation, prosecutors requested that those who were victims of Cruz be allowed to present testimony about the crime and what they see as the appropriate sentence. The jury unanimously found that there had been aggravating factors in the murders Cruz committed. The question facing jurors now was whether Cruz would spend the rest of his life in prison or be sentenced to death. You set a precedent for the next mass killing, that nothing happens to you. He entered a school building through an unlocked side door and used an AR-15-style rifle to kill 14 students and three staff members, as well as wound 17 others. Cruz carried out the massacre on Valentine's Day in 2018.

The death penalty was on the table, but the jury would've had to reach that decision unanimously.

He will be in the custody of the Broward County Sherriff's Office until then. What's next: Cruz will be officially sentenced to life without parole on Nov. 17 people were brutally murdered," said Lori Alhadeff, whose 14-year-old daughter, Alyssa Alhadeff, was murdered in the shooting. I'm devastated. I'm disgusted with those jurors. - "I'm disgusted with our legal system.

A 12-member jury has voted not to give the death penalty to the gunman responsible for the Parkland shooting; The jury recommended life imprisonment without ...

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — A jury spared Florida school shooter Nikolas Cruz from the death penalty Thursday for killing 17 people at a Parkland high ...

He took the jury to [the fenced-off building,](/article/nikolas-cruz-trial-parkland-shooting-scene-cf04bb9cebd45e01cf92db39e8c1a423) which remains blood-stained and bullet-pocked. Their witnesses said Cruz faked brain damage during testing and that he was capable of controlling his actions, but chose not to. [his case simple](/article/crime-shootings-education-florida-fort-lauderdale-d6444cc4006d4c15a05ea8cea00d729a) for the seven-man, five-woman jury. The massacre is the deadliest mass shooting that has ever gone to trial in the U.S. Multiple family members called Cruz a “monster” and talked about the years they waited for justice. “The last thing my son saw was the gunman aiming at him,” he said. [pleaded guilty a year ago](/article/parkland-school-shooting-nikolas-cruz-guilty-plea-1bad323e22fe4517cf851395b252bd4b) to murdering 14 students and three staff members and wounding 17 others on [Feb. We hope that, while there is no such thing as closure, this will bring some measure of finality and justice to this terrible chapter.” “I didn’t vote that way, so I’m not happy with how it worked out, but everyone has the right to decide for themselves.” Rumblings grew from the family section — packed with about three dozen parents, spouses and other relatives of the victims — as it became apparent the jury was not going to recommend the death penalty. Relatives, along with the students and teachers Cruz wounded, will be given the opportunity to speak. In the end, the jury could not agree that the aggravating factors outweighed the mitigating ones, so Cruz will get life without parole.

The sentence caps an emotional three-month trial in which victim relatives and survivors recounted the 2018 Valentine's Day massacre in painful detail.

Jury says Nicolas Cruz should not get the death penalty for the murder of 17 students and staff at US high school.

Cruz is a rare example of a school shooter who has lived to be punished for his crimes. After an outpouring of grief and anger, President Joe Biden signed a gun reform bill into law in June. Tony Montalto’s daughter Gina Montalto was shot by Cruz and he heads the group Stand with Parkland, advocating to make schools safer. Deb Hixon, wife of Parkland victim Chris Hixon said she was “completely devastated and shocked” by the verdict. Under Florida law, the jury must unanimously recommend the death penalty for it to be considered in sentencing. He fled the scene, blending in among other students and was arrested later that same day.

The gunman who killed 17 people at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, has been spared the death penalty. A jury recommended that the ...

In one video, taken days before the shooting, the gunman said he planned to be the "next school shooter" of the year and that his goal was to murder at least 20 people. The gunman researched past mass killings, and posted online comments in which he said he would show "no mercy". The attack remains one of the deadliest school shootings in US history. "I pray that animal suffers every day of his life in jail," he said. It was the deadliest mass shooting case ever to reach a jury trial in the US. Tony Montalto - who lost his daughter, Gina, in the attack - shook his head repeatedly.

Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooter Nikolas Cruz stands with Assistant Public Defender Nawal Bashimam (L) and sentence mitigation specialist Kate O' ...

[jurors in August](https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/jury-nikolas-cruz-trial-tours-parkland-high-school-17-killed-rcna41765) visited the site of the massacre, where nothing had been changed from that deadly day more than four years ago, except for the removal of the victims' bodies and some personal items. [ witnesses who recalled seeing students and staff members die](https://apnews.com/article/shootings-education-florida-fort-lauderdale-b46046e051d58521d225c29d55d93565) and argue that the gunman had displayed racist and misogynistic behavior online prior to the massacre. In the trial, forensic psychiatrist Dr. The jury had to reach a unanimous decision for the death sentence. The jury recommended life without the possibility for parole in all cases. This should have been the death penalty 100%" [The defense argued that his birth mother's alcohol abuse during her pregnancy ](https://apnews.com/article/shootings-education-florida-fort-lauderdale-parkland-school-shooting-418ced4a1484404aca34cdb728c0d167)led to his erratic and violent behavior. You will never forget voting for life." "I am disgusted with our legal system. I am disgusted with those jurors," he said. A sentencing hearing was set for Nov. I just don't understand this," she said.

A jury rejected the death penalty for Florida school shooter Nikolas Cruz in the 2018 massacre that killed 17 people at Parkland's Marjory Stoneman Douglas ...

He was doomed in the womb." He played security videos of the shooting and showed gruesome crime scene and autopsy photos. Woodard "poisoned him in the womb. He took the jury to the fenced-off building, which remains blood-stained and bullet-pocked. He talked about the death of one 14-year-old girl. The massacre is the deadliest mass shooting to ever go to trial. His first reaction was to protect students and stop the carnage. Rumblings grew from the family section — packed with about three dozen parents, spouses, and other relatives of the victims — as life sentences were announced. He was on patrol there the day a former student opened fire on campus. He should’ve received the death sentence today." Relatives, along with the students and teachers Cruz wounded, will be given the opportunity to speak at the sentencing hearing. "There is no reason, and if there is a reason why are we allowing people to randomly kill people."

The court was packed, but you could have heard a pin drop as victims waited for a verdict in the sentencing trial of the Parkland school shooter.

"And I could not be more disappointed in what happened today." Their son Luke was the very first name read in court. That's because most attackers are either killed by law enforcement in the course of their rampage or take their own lives in its immediate aftermath. When the judge read the verdict aloud, many observers were confused about what the result was because of the complex legal language. In turn, those 22 jurors heard more than three months of testimony. The gunman had said he watched his head explode like a water balloon. On each count, jurors acknowledged the crime that had been committed as well as how its brutal and premeditated nature warranted a death sentence for the gunman. I can't believe they gave a cold-blooded killer more mercy than the 17 victims he killed," Mrs Hoyer said. One woman screamed "shut it off" as loud gunfire was heard in audio footage. That was not the case here. A new youth movement demanding stricter gun laws, led by the school's students, kept the topic top of mind for weeks, if not months. "It's been a bad day.

The jury foreman said three of the jurors ultimately voted for life in prison, with one of them being a "hard no" on the death penalty and another two ...

And that's due in part to the change of law and also just the change in society. That's why we now have the unanimous verdict in Florida in death penalty." It shows you how hard it is to actually send somebody death here in the state of Florida now. "We can disagree with it. It is a moral decision on their own; some of the jurors just felt that way." Trocino said he closely followed the sentencing trial over the months, and the jurors weighed what made the mass shooting worse versus what tempered it, known as aggravating factors and mitigating factors. "The last thing my son saw was the gunman aiming at him," he said. And that’s how we voted," he said. "He planned it for months." "We need justice." What is the purpose of it? This is insane," Chen Wang, cousin of shooting victim Peter Wang, said at a news conference after the jury’s decision was read.