Nikolas Cruz Pleads Guilty To Killing Seventeen In 2018 Parkland School Shooting

Parkland school shooter Nikolas Cruz pleaded guilty to all counts of murder and attempted murder in a US court on Wednesday, and will now face sentencing with the possibility of the death penalty

WASHINGTON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 20th October, 2021) Parkland school shooter Nikolas Cruz pleaded guilty to all counts of murder and attempted murder in a US court on Wednesday, and will now face sentencing with the possibility of the death penalty.

Cruz killed 14 students and three staff members at Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida on February 14, 2018. A jury will now decide whether Cruz deserves the death penalty for his crimes. After the government recounted the events of the crime in detail and the judge accepted his plea, Cruz read a statement in which he offered his apologies and made a case against drug use and racism.

"I am very sorry for what I did, and I have to live with it every day, and that if I were to get a second chance, I would do everything in my power to try and help others," Cruz said.

"I hate drugs, and I believe this country would do better if everyone would stop smoking marijuana and doing all these drugs and causing racism and violence out in the streets."

Cruz admitted to authorities his frequent use of marijuana, and CNN reported that he was involved in a racist and anti-Semitic online group chat in which he both made racist statements about minorities and demonstrated an interest in violence.