Nikolas Cruz claimed he was buying AR-15 to ‘go shooting with friends’, sentencing trial hears

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Convicted murderer Nikolas Cruz claimed that he was buying his AR-15 so that he could “go shooting with my friends” one year before he used the weapon to murder 17 students and staff members, jurors heard at his sentencing trial.

Michael Morrison, the owner of Sunrise Tactical Supply in Coral Springs, Florida, took the witness stand on Tuesday to testify about the moment that he sold Cruz the Smith & Wesson M&P 15 semi-automatic rifle used in the mass shooting at Parkland, Florida.

Cruz, then 18, had filled out the paperwork to buy the AR-15 for $618.17 on 11 February 2017.

Under state law, there was then a five-working day waiting period before he could collect it.

When Cruz returned to the gun store to collect the weapon, Mr Morrison said he asked the teenager what he was going to do with it.

“He said ‘I go shooting with my friends during the weekend. I just want my own stuff’,” Mr Morrison said Cruz replied.

The gun store owner told the courtroom that part of his job was to “look for any red flags why this sale should not happen”. He testified that he saw no red flags in his interactions with the 18-year-old.

Cruz’s firearms application was approved by the state of Florida and he left the store with the gun.

Less than one year later – on 14 February 2018 – he entered Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School armed with the weapon and stalked the three floors of the freshman building, opening fire on victims.

Within minutes, he had murdered 17 students and staff members. The victims were Alyssa Alhadeff, Martin Duque, Nicholas Dworet, Jaime Guttenberg, Luke Hoyer, Cara Loughran, Gina Montalto, Joaquin Oliver, Alaina Petty, Meadow Pollack, Helena Ramsay, Alex Schachter, Carmen Schentrup, Peter Wang, Scott Beigel, Chris Hixon and Aaron Feis.

In the aftermath of the Valentine’s Day massacre – one of the deadliest mass shootings in US history – Florida raised the minimum age to legally purchase firearms from 18 to 21.

The AR-15 used in the attack was brought into the courtroom for a second time on Tuesday – after it was first shown to the jury on Monday.

Looking at the firearm, Mr Morrison confirmed that Cruz had added several accessories to it since his purchase, including a grip, a sling and a bipod.

Day seven of the sentencing trial also involved harrowing details and graphic photos of the injuries suffered by Cruz’s victims.

Broward County Chief Medical Examiner Rebecca MacDougall, who performed autopsies on some of the victims, told jurors in distressing detail about the gunshot wounds sustained by Alex Schachter.

The 14-year-old was one of the first to be killed in the massacre when the gunman shot through the window of his first-floor classroom, striking him with bullets while he was still sat at his desk.

Dr MacDougall told the court that one of the bullets entered Alex’s left chest, went through his lung and struck his spinal cord. He would have been left paralysed had he survived.

Alex’s grieving father covered his face and sobbed as he sat in the gallery of the courtroom listening to the details of his son’s brutal murder.

The pathologist also told the court about the autopsy findings from 14-year-old student Alyssa Alhadeff and 35-year-old geography teacher and cross-country coach Scott Beigel.

Alyssa was in her classroom on the first floor of the school building when Cruz opened fire through the door and window to the room.

Ms MacDougall testified that she was killed by a bullet to her chest and heart and also suffered defensive wounds as she raised her hands to try to protect herself from the gunfire.

Scott died in the hallway of the third floor as he tried to usher students into the safety of his classroom.

He was shot multiple times with bullets to the torso and left back that struck his heart and spinal cord proving fatal, the pathologist testified.

Last October, Cruz pleaded guilty to 17 counts of murder and 17 counts of first-degree murder.

Now, 12 jurors will decide whether to sentence him to life in prison without the possibility of parole or to give him the death penalty.

The trial will resume at 9am on Wednesday morning.