By David Fleshler, Aric Chokey, Lisa J. Huriash and Linda Trischitta
February 15, 2018
Accused Parkland school killer Nikolas Cruz was ordered held without bond Thursday afternoon, after a brief hearing in which he stood silently with his head down in a heavily guarded Fort Lauderdale courtroom. Before the hearing, an official with the public defender’s office described Cruz as a “deeply troubled child who has endured a lot of emotional trauma in a short period of time.” Cruz had previously trained with a white nationalist militia, participating in paramilitary drills in Tallahassee. A representative of the Republic of Florida militia told researchers at the Anti-Defamation League that shooting suspect Cruz had been "brought up" into the group by one of its members, the nonprofit said in a blog post. Chief Assistant Public Defender Gordon Weekes, whose agency’s team is defending him, said Cruz was “shocked.” Cruz, who is on suicide watch, faces 17 counts of premeditated murder, Broward Sheriff Scott Israel said at a news conference.
Expelled from the school over disciplinary problems, Cruz is accused of squeezing off shot after shot from an AR-15 rifle as students took cover under desks, fire alarms blared and teachers barricaded classrooms. By the time it was over Wednesday, 17 people were dead or dying, and 16 were wounded. The AR-15 used in the mass shooting was legally bought by Cruz, attorney Jim Lewis told the South Florida Sun Sentinel. Cruz already owned the gun when he moved in with his friend’s family in northwest Broward around Thanksgiving, Lewis said. “It was his gun,” Lewis said. “The family made him keep it in a locked gun cabinet in the house but he had a key.”
