2024 Author: Steven Freeman | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 08:15
Nikolas Cruz has been charged with 17 counts of murder as the alleged perpetrator of Wednesday's massacre at a Parkland, South Florida high school.
The 19-year-old boy, who was expelled from that same school last year as a result of incidents of various kinds, was apprehended an hour after the shooting around the campus after trying to mix with the fleeing students in terror.
Here is what is known of Nikolas Cruz, alleged perpetrator of the massacre at the Marjory Stoneman Douglas School in Parkland, FL
1.- He and his brother were adopted
Nikolas and his biological brother Zachary were adopted by a couple from Long Island who had just moved to Broward County, according to local newspaper Sun Sentinel. Until more than a year ago, the family - which years ago had lost the father - moved from the neighborhood where she lived because, according to an old neighbor, they could no longer afford to live in that area.
2.- He had a problematic history
Several students at the school where the massacre occurred described Cruz as a "lonely" and "friendless" boy, who many avoided and who, according to a mother, had been expelled for having brought knives to the school. Neighbors of the Cruz family also stated that Nikolas's mother called the police when she was unable to deal with her two children.
"I know I was having trouble with them, especially the older one," Barbara Kumbatovich, a relative of the Cruzes and a Long Island resident, told Sentinel. “He had a type of emotional problem. [Lynda, mom] had the boys very controlled. They weren't serious things, just things teenagers do, like not coming home when they should and maybe being disrespectful, "said the woman. Another source who spoke anonymously to the newspaper said that Nikolas had been diagnosed with autism.
3.- His mother had recently passed away
Lynda Cruz, mother of the minor, died on November 1 of influenza and neunomy. Her husband had died about a decade ago of a heart attack. “She is 19 years old. He was an adult who was alone,” Kathie Blaine, the boy's cousin, told CNN. “It is really right now… I don't really understand what everyone does. I can not believe it. I can't believe these shootings in schools. According to various sources, Cruz and her brother had been left in charge of family friends, with whom they lived. The young man also worked in a Dollar Tree warehouse near the scene of the massacre.
4.- He was fond of weapons
Cruz was a lover of weapons and he liked to boast about his weapons and having killed animals, other students and neighbors who knew him told the media. The young man's Instagram profile contained disturbing images showing his face with pistols and other types of weapons. Cruz reportedly wanted to enlist in the Army.
5.- The weapon he used in the massacre was legally acquired
According to the AP agency, authorities suspect that the suspect legally acquired approximately a year ago the AR-15 rifle with which he carried out the massacre.
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