Authorities have not explained why they believe Nikolas Cruz carried out the shooting. (File)
The videos are grim warnings of what was to come.
In recordings released Wednesday, the 19-year-old who would later be charged with killing 17 people at a high school in Parkland, Florida, declared with chilling certainty what would happen. He announced plans to become a school shooter, detailed how many people he hoped to murder and gloated about the infamy he would gain from such a massacre.
"When you see me on the news, you'll all know who I am," he says before laughing. "You're all going to die!"
The three recordings are brief, but they offer a macabre glimpse of Nikolas Cruz, who was arrested not long after the Feb. 14 shooting and could face the death penalty. One of the videos appeared to have been filmed the day of the rampage at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.
Authorities have not explained why they believe the 19-year-old carried out the shooting. His guilt has not been questioned. Police said he confessed, while his attorneys readily admit he was the gunman. Yet even as it emerged that he was a troubled young man with a pattern of disturbing behavior and alleged violence, what motivated the rampage remains unanswered.
Local and federal authorities were warned repeatedly about his potential for violence, including specific warnings to both the FBI and local police that he could be a potential school shooter. Yet it appears the warnings all went unheeded, and Cruz was able to march into the school on Valentine's Day and open fire, killing 17 students and staff and wounding 17 others.
The videos suggest that Cruz had thought about what he would do, and the brief glimpses of what he said drove him carried unnerving echoes of previous mass killers.
Experts who research mass shootings have identified similar characteristics recurring among the shooters, including a sense of persecution, flashes of anger and a desire for notoriety through such violence. Some have complained about their lives, while others have detailed how many people they hope to kill. All of these traits are on display in the brief clips released Wednesday.
The first video begins with the 19-year-old, wearing headphones and a baseball cap, looking into the phone's camera and introducing himself.
"My name's Nik," he says. "And I'm going to be the next school shooter of 2018."
He went on to say his "goal is at least 20 people, with an AR-15 and a couple tracer rounds," before identifying his target as Stoneman Douglas, a school in an idyllic South Florida suburb. After announcing that people would die, he then made cartoonish noises of a gun firing: "Pew pew pew pew! Can't wait." Many Twitter users shared the video expressing shock.
"I hate everyone and everything," he is heard saying. "But the power of my AR you will all know who I am. I had enough of being told what to do and when to do."
He also shared a message with a female person who is not fully identified, saying: "I hope to see you in the afterlife."
In his boasts about becoming famous, the 19-year-old touches on something that concerns survivors of shootings and their relatives alike. Some have called for news organizations to limit their coverage of mass killers to take away something those attackers describe as a draw. Survivors of the Parkland attack made a similar argument Wednesday, pleading for attention to be paid to the victims rather than their attacker.
Prosecutors in Broward County, Florida, have said they will seek a death sentence for Cruz. A representative for Michael Satz, the Broward state attorney, did not respond to a request for further comment about the videos Wednesday.
Howard Finkelstein, the Broward public defender, has said it would be wrong for the state to execute Cruz after so many red flags were missed, and he has offered prosecutors to have Cruz plead guilty and avoid a trial if prosecutors agree not to pursue a death sentence.
Finkelstein said in a statement Wednesday that his team limited their discovery request in the case "so that videos like this and worse would not go public and further hurt and inflame the victims families and the community." He added: "We continue to stand ready to plead guilty to 34 consecutive life sentences without parole."
In recordings released Wednesday, the 19-year-old who would later be charged with killing 17 people at a high school in Parkland, Florida, declared with chilling certainty what would happen. He announced plans to become a school shooter, detailed how many people he hoped to murder and gloated about the infamy he would gain from such a massacre.
"When you see me on the news, you'll all know who I am," he says before laughing. "You're all going to die!"
The three recordings are brief, but they offer a macabre glimpse of Nikolas Cruz, who was arrested not long after the Feb. 14 shooting and could face the death penalty. One of the videos appeared to have been filmed the day of the rampage at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.
Authorities have not explained why they believe the 19-year-old carried out the shooting. His guilt has not been questioned. Police said he confessed, while his attorneys readily admit he was the gunman. Yet even as it emerged that he was a troubled young man with a pattern of disturbing behavior and alleged violence, what motivated the rampage remains unanswered.
Local and federal authorities were warned repeatedly about his potential for violence, including specific warnings to both the FBI and local police that he could be a potential school shooter. Yet it appears the warnings all went unheeded, and Cruz was able to march into the school on Valentine's Day and open fire, killing 17 students and staff and wounding 17 others.
The videos suggest that Cruz had thought about what he would do, and the brief glimpses of what he said drove him carried unnerving echoes of previous mass killers.
Experts who research mass shootings have identified similar characteristics recurring among the shooters, including a sense of persecution, flashes of anger and a desire for notoriety through such violence. Some have complained about their lives, while others have detailed how many people they hope to kill. All of these traits are on display in the brief clips released Wednesday.
The first video begins with the 19-year-old, wearing headphones and a baseball cap, looking into the phone's camera and introducing himself.
"My name's Nik," he says. "And I'm going to be the next school shooter of 2018."
He went on to say his "goal is at least 20 people, with an AR-15 and a couple tracer rounds," before identifying his target as Stoneman Douglas, a school in an idyllic South Florida suburb. After announcing that people would die, he then made cartoonish noises of a gun firing: "Pew pew pew pew! Can't wait." Many Twitter users shared the video expressing shock.
In another video, he says: "Today is the day. Today it all begins. The day of my massacre shall begin." During a third video, with the camera pointed away, Cruz complains about how his life is "meaningless" and isolated and said he is angry at being called stupid.The Voice of Evil #NikolasCruz pic.twitter.com/2N5mjqVPGn
— Carl Stresing (@CarlStresing) May 30, 2018
"I hate everyone and everything," he is heard saying. "But the power of my AR you will all know who I am. I had enough of being told what to do and when to do."
He also shared a message with a female person who is not fully identified, saying: "I hope to see you in the afterlife."
In his boasts about becoming famous, the 19-year-old touches on something that concerns survivors of shootings and their relatives alike. Some have called for news organizations to limit their coverage of mass killers to take away something those attackers describe as a draw. Survivors of the Parkland attack made a similar argument Wednesday, pleading for attention to be paid to the victims rather than their attacker.
Prosecutors in Broward County, Florida, have said they will seek a death sentence for Cruz. A representative for Michael Satz, the Broward state attorney, did not respond to a request for further comment about the videos Wednesday.
Howard Finkelstein, the Broward public defender, has said it would be wrong for the state to execute Cruz after so many red flags were missed, and he has offered prosecutors to have Cruz plead guilty and avoid a trial if prosecutors agree not to pursue a death sentence.
Finkelstein said in a statement Wednesday that his team limited their discovery request in the case "so that videos like this and worse would not go public and further hurt and inflame the victims families and the community." He added: "We continue to stand ready to plead guilty to 34 consecutive life sentences without parole."
Track Latest News Live on NDTV.com and get news updates from India and around the world
