Parkland, Florida school shooter Nikolas Cruz recorded videos of himself plotting his attack, saying into the camera, “You’re all going to die.”
In the clip shared by the Miami Herald, Cruz is seen recording himself while wearing a green t-shirt and a hat.
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He looks into his cellphone camera and states, “Hello. My name is Nik and I’m going to be the next school shooter of 2018.”
“My goal is at least 20 people with an AR-15. … Location is Stoneman Douglas in Parkland, Florida,” he continues. “It’s going to be a big event. And when you see me on the news, you’ll know who I am.”
Cruz then laughs and says, “You’re all going to die,” before making gunshot sounds and ending by saying, “Can’t wait.”
Cruz entered the grounds of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School on Feb. 14 and opened fire on students and staff, killing 17 and wounding many others.
He is currently awaiting trial where he faces faces 17 counts of first-degree murder and 17 counts of attempted first-degree murder.
The cell phone recordings were made public by the Broward State Attorney’s Office as a response to a defense request for discovery, which essentially suggests that they are making public record of their evidence against the teenager to show that it supports their prosecution.
In the state of Florida, in order to get a first-degree murder charge, the prosecutor must prove that the crime was premeditated, as first-degree murder is considered a capital offense. The video clip appears to indicate that Cruz did plan the crime beforehand.
The prosecutor’s office previously announced that they will be pursuing the death penalty in Cruz’s case, a fact that Parkland shooting survivor Emma Gonzalez applauded.
After being told about the news during a 60 Minutes interview, Gonzalez replied that she thought it was “good that he’s seeking the death penalty for Nick Cruz.”
Some of her fellow survivors tended to disagree with her point-of-view, however.
“I don’t wanna think about Nick Cruz. I think the more we think about him, the more he wins. That being said, in a way I disagree with Emma. Let him rot forever,” Cameron Kasky said.
“I wanna see him rot forever as Cameron just said, but when we pursue the death penalty, this will be kept in the media for much longer,” David Hogg chimed in.
“I just don’t want him to get what he wants,” Jaclyn Corin added. “I want him to suffer no matter what.”
“The death of one person, as terrible of a person as he is, cannot outweigh the death of the 17,” Alex Wind said.
