The mass shooting left 17 dead, including 14 students
Alleged gunman Nikolas Cruz will plead guilty to the first-degree murder of 17 people at Parkland, Florida’s Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. Lawyers for the 23-year-old suspect said Friday that their client would take responsibility for the February 2018 massacre and move on to the penalty phase of his legal battle. A jury, which will begin its selection process in November, will decide whether Cruz receives a life sentence without parole or the death penalty. That hearing is likely to begin in early 2022. The announcement that Cruz would plead guilty to fatally shooting 14 students and three adults came as he was preparing to go to trial next week for attacking a Broward County corrections officer in November 2018.
