A new report confirms that Nikolas Cruz owned more firearms than officials thought before the school shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida on Feb. 14.
Cruz left a trail of warning signs on social media, where he expressed his obsession with guns and weapons, as well as his hateful views and his propensity for killing small animals. However, the Snead family, who Cruz was staying with at the time of the attack, said they forced the 19-year-old to purchase a safe to which they thought they had the only key.
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Cruz often posted pictures of the small arsenal he had amassed on Instagram, but a new report from CNN suggests that there was even more. A law enforcement source who was briefed on the case told reporters Cruz owned at least 10 firearms, all of which were rifles. Officials are working to track the purchases, all of which appear to have been made in the last year or so.
Cruz committed his crimes with an AR-15 assault rifle, the weapon most commonly used in mass shootings in recent history. He reportedly bought the weapon legally at the age of 18, just a year before his attack on his former high school.
Cruz will appear in court on Monday afternoon, where he is expected to plead guilty to 17 charges of premeditated murder. Cruz confessed to being the shooter shortly after he was arrested by police. The young man was captured walking away from the school, less than two hours after the first shots were fired.
The students of Stoneman Douglas High School have stepped up to make their voices heard on the issue of gun legislation. They’re headed to Tallahassee, where they hope to go before the state legislators and plead for reform of gun laws in their state.
The students have also helped organize a march on Washington next month, on March 24. The event has been planned in coordination with the women’s march.
In addition, high school students across the country are planning a walkout on March 14, which will be the one-month anniversary of the Parkland massacre.
