Nikolas Cruz to Plead Guilty for Parkland School Shooting

The erstwhile pupil who was accused of shooting and killing 17 radical astatine his precocious schoolhouse successful Parkland, Fla., successful 2018 plans to plead blameworthy to 17 counts of premeditated execution and 17 counts of attempted murder, 1 of his lawyers said connected Friday.

The rampage astatine Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School connected Feb. 14, 2018, killed 14 students and 3 module members and wounded 17 and was 1 of the deadliest schoolhouse shootings successful American history.

The erstwhile student, Nikolas Cruz, who was 19 astatine the clip and had a past of intelligence wellness and behaviour problems, utilized a semiautomatic rifle that helium had legally bought to transportation retired the assault, according to the police.

“It is our intent to participate a alteration of plea arsenic to some cases to each charges,” David Wheeler, 1 of Mr. Cruz’s lawyers, said successful tribunal connected Friday.

Mr. Cruz, present 23, appeared successful tribunal soon aft and pleaded blameworthy to artillery and different charges successful a abstracted lawsuit related to a combat with a sheriff’s lawman successful jail.

Judge Elizabeth Scherer said she would docket a proceeding for Wednesday astatine 9 a.m. for Mr. Cruz to alteration his plea successful the Parkland shooting case.

The adjacent measurement would beryllium a punishment signifier earlier a assemblage successful which Mr. Cruz’s lawyers would effort to debar the decease punishment and reason alternatively for a beingness sentence. Prosecutors person vowed to prosecute the decease punishment and said that nary statement connected a condemnation had been reached.

Mr. Cruz appeared successful tribunal connected Friday wearing a mask, ample glasses and a acheronian sweater implicit a achromatic collared shirt. He told the justice helium was feeling tense but that helium was reasoning intelligibly and understood the proceedings. When Judge Scherer asked Mr. Cruz if helium had immoderate intelligence issues, helium said helium had been told successful the past that helium suffered from anxiousness and depression, but that helium felt acceptable to proceed with Friday’s hearing.

“I don’t judge I person immoderate issues,” helium said. He said helium had not taken immoderate medicine successful the past year.

The announcement of planned blameworthy pleas follows years of witnesser interviews and different preparations for an emotionally grueling proceedings that had been expected to past months.

Before the shooting, Mr. Cruz recorded 3 videos connected his cellphone that indicated that he, similar galore youthful perpetrators of wide shootings, wanted his sanction to beryllium remembered.

“When you spot maine connected the news, you’ll each cognize who I am,” helium said connected 1 video. “You’re each going to die.”

The shooting led thousands of students who had grown up successful an epoch of schoolhouse shooting drills and lockdowns to locomotion retired of their classrooms and march for tougher weapon power laws and an extremity to weapon violence. Some of the marches were led by teenagers who had survived the Parkland shooting and who rapidly emerged arsenic leaders of a younger procreation of activists.

Less than a period aft the shooting, a Broward County authoritative made nationalist his determination to seek the decease penalty.

In a 2018 filing successful Broward County Circuit Court, the prosecutor, Michael J. Satz, who was past the Broward County authorities attorney, cited 7 aggravating factors that helium said could marque Mr. Cruz eligible for execution. Those factors, enshrined successful Florida law, see that Mr. Cruz “knowingly created a large hazard of decease to galore persons” and that the superior felony astatine contented was “especially heinous, atrocious oregon cruel.”

Lawyers for Mr. Cruz had repeatedly said that helium would hold to plead blameworthy successful speech for beingness successful situation without the anticipation of parole and that helium would not contention his guilt astatine what was definite to beryllium an agonizing and affectional trial. They indicated that they would alternatively absorption connected proving mitigating circumstances, specified arsenic utmost intelligence duress. Under Florida law, a azygous juror could artifact a decease sentence.

The lawsuit involving the combat with the serviceman successful jailhouse dates backmost to November 2018, erstwhile Mr. Cruz was accused of assaulting an serviceman and grabbing his electroshock weapon portion being held successful a Fort Lauderdale jail.

After Sgt. Raymond Beltran told Mr. Cruz to “not resistance his sandals connected the ground,” according to an affidavit, Mr. Cruz made an obscene motion and “rushed” him and “struck him successful the face.” The 2 men ended up connected the ground, the affidavit said. Video shows that Mr. Cruz was connected apical of Sergeant Beltran astatine 1 point, punching him successful the caput respective times, according to the affidavit.

Mr. Beltran sat successful the courtroom connected Friday arsenic Mr. Cruz pleaded blameworthy to the charges and agreed to prosecutors’ relationship of however the incidental transpired.

Mr. Cruz had been scheduled to look proceedings connected those charges adjacent week, but the assemblage enactment successful that lawsuit was rocky, a motion of however hard it would beryllium to effort Mr. Cruz successful a portion inactive traumatized by the Parkland attack.

Several prospective jurors cried aft seeing Mr. Cruz for the archetypal clip earlier this month, and Mr. Cruz himself began to sob successful beforehand of the jurors. His lawyers tried to springiness him colored pencils successful what they said was an effort to calm him down, but the justice ordered that they beryllium taken distant aft prosecutors accused his lawyers of utilizing the pencils arsenic props to marque him look mentally unstable.

Long earlier the shooting astatine the school, Mr. Cruz’s behaviour had provoked interest from schoolhouse officials. In 2016, Mr. Cruz told different pupil that helium had a weapon astatine location and was reasoning of utilizing it, prompting 2 guidance counselors and a sheriff’s lawman astatine the precocious schoolhouse to conclude that helium should beryllium forcibly committed for psychiatric evaluation, according to intelligence wellness records that were obtained by The New York Times.

But Mr. Cruz appears ne'er to person been institutionalized contempt making threats to himself and others, cutting his arms with a pencil sharpener and claiming helium had drunk gasoline successful a imaginable effort to termination himself, each successful a five-day play successful September 2016.

The revelation that schoolhouse officials considered trying to perpetrate Mr. Cruz successful 2016 appeared to beryllium different successful a drawstring of missed opportunities to woody with the troubled young man.

Local sheriff’s deputies were repeatedly called to Mr. Cruz’s residences but ne'er recovered crushed capable to apprehension him. The F.B.I. did not analyse tips astir Mr. Cruz’s evident involvement successful schoolhouse shootings, adjacent aft a pistillate called to accidental helium had weapons and was “going to explode.”

The Broward County Sheriff’s Office aboriginal came nether aggravated disapproval aft video showed 1 of its deputies, Scot Peterson, standing extracurricular of the schoolhouse for astir an hour arsenic the rampage continued. He is awaiting proceedings connected charges of felony neglect of a child. Three different deputies were fired implicit their effect to the shooting, and Gov. Ron DeSantis made bully connected a run committedness by replacing the sheriff aft taking bureau successful 2019.

Patricia Mazzei contributed reporting.