On Wednesday the Snead family, who were letting Nikolas Cruz live in their house prior to the Parkland Shooting on Feb. 14, released the text messages sent by Cruz to them moments before he entered Stoneman Douglas High School and murdered 14 students and three teachers in a school shooting.
The first text was sent to the Snead’s teenage son roughly 20 minutes before the shooting began, asking which class he was in at the school and who the teacher was. When the student responded by saying it was one of the school’s coaches. Cruz responded by asking if he remembered Cruz, which the coach did not. The coach was not one of the three adults killed during the shooting.
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Several minutes pass, and Cruz sent another text. According to the family’s attorney Jim Lewis, Cruz “made some kind of comment that, ‘I’ve got something big to tell you.’” The son pressed him on it, but Cruz responded, “No big deal. Nothing bad.”
The last text was made at 2:18 p.m., two minutes before Cruz entered the school. It just said the word “Yo,” and despite multiple replies Cruz never responded after that.
Cruz was formally charged with 17 counts of first-degree murder and another 17 counts of attempted murder on Wednesday.
On Thursday, additional details were released regarding the shooting as the Miami Herald released the radio dispatch audio from the day of the shooting and the communication of Broward Deputy Scot Peterson. Despite hearing gunshots from inside the building, Peterson opted not to enter the same building as Cruz and advised incoming officers to do the same.
Along with the dispatch, a full timeline of the events of the shooting were released. Cruz arrived at the school at 2:19 p.. via an Uber, and began shooting within 15 seconds of entering Building 12 wielding an AR-15 semi-automatic rifle.
Peterson radioed in that shots were fired after minute after Peterson began shooting. He arrived at the southeast corner of the building but did not enter.
“We’re talking about the 1200 building, it’s going to be the building off Holmberg Road,” Peterson said on the radio. “Get the school locked down, gentlemen.”
Cruz continued shooting until 2:27 p.m., where he then abandoned his rifle in the third-floor stairwell and managed to escape in a crowd of panicked students as they escaped the school.
Cruz was identified by officer Tim Burton as he arrived at the school, radioing in “White male with ROTC Uniform, burgandy shirt.” Cruz was arrested an hour later.
