'Dangerous' Nikolas Cruz Pictured Burying His Mother's Ashes

Months before he shot and killed 17 people at his former high school, confessed shooter Nikolas [...]

By Libby Birk

Months before he shot and killed 17 people at his former high school, confessed shooter Nikolas Cruz, along with his brother, Zachary, was photographed interring their mother's ashes after she died from pneumonia.

The photo, along with another photo of Cruz in the same outfit smiling in front of a Christmas tree, reveals a stark contrast to the concerned phone calls officials received about Cruz, warning that the teen was "collecting guns and knives."

The photo was taken around the same time that a caller informed police that they believed the 19-year-old would "kill himself one day" and could be a "school shooter in the making."

A 911 log released Thursday by the Broward County Sheriff's Department reveals that police first were warned of Cruz's gun collection in February 2016, two years before Cruz opened fire at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland.

After Cruz's mother, Lynda, died in November 2017, he and Zachary moved in with their family friend Rocxanne Deschamps. Sometime between Lynda's death and January, Cruz and Zachary were photographed placing an urn holding Lynda's ashes into a tomb. The pair looked somber as each brother held a side of their adoptive mother's urn.

In a second photo, obtained by the Daily Mail, Cruz wears the same outfit and smiles in front of a Christmas tree at an unknown location.

Multiple 911 calls were made from Deschamps' mobile home in relation to Cruz, and he eventually moved in with a friend from school and his family while Zachary stayed at Deschamps' home.

The first call, on Nov. 25, came from Rocxanne Deschamps' 22-year-old son, Rock, who said that Cruz had buried a weapon in the backyard and that weapons were not allowed in the home. Four days later, on Nov. 29, Rocxanne called 911 again after Cruz and Rock had gotten into a fight, and said that Cruz was on his way to pick up a gun from Dick's that he had just bought.

She said "he had bought a gun from Dick's last week and is now going to pick it up." She also told the police dispatcher he had "tons of ammo" and "has used a gun against people before" and has "put the gun to others heads in the past."

A sheriff's deputy responded, finding Cruz in a nearby park where he said he lost his temper. He went back with the officer and made up with Rock, who signed a document saying he wouldn't press charges.

The next day, on Nov. 30, police in Parkland received a call from Massachusetts saying Cruz was "collecting guns and knives." The caller said they were "concerned [Cruz] will kill himself' and believed that Cruz was a "school shooter in the making."

Not long after, Cruz left Deschamps' Palm Beach home to live with the Snead family in Broward County.

Rocxanne Deschamps' ex-fiance, Paul Gold, recalled to CNN how he drove Cruz to his mother's funeral and said he was "stoic" throughout.

There were four people at the ceremony; Cruz, Zachary, Rocxanne and Paul. The meager turnout reportedly upset Cruz.

"The boy was stoic. Not a tear. Not an emotion. I asked him if he was upset. He said: 'I'm upset because nobody came, and nobody cares about my mother,'" Gold said.

"I told him that his mother was loved by many, many people and they just couldn't make it, timing and whatnot. It was a complete lie. But I felt horrible. Here's this poor kid, and his mother dies, and not a soul shows up," Gold said.

A day after the massacre, Deschamps filed court papers trying to claim control of Cruz's $800,000 inheritance. Zachary, who will soon be 18, was committed to a hospital for psychiatric evaluation after the shooting.

Cruz has confessed to the massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School and is charged with 17 counts of premeditated murder. He is expected to plead guilty.

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