Jurors in Nikolas Cruz sentencing trial visit site of Parkland high school shooting
Bloodstained building will be demolished when prosecturs are finished using it as evidence
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Jurors in the trial of Parkland shooter Nikolas Cruz have visited the still-bloodstained scene of the massacre that saw 14 students and three staff members murdered at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.
The jury of seven men and five women, along with ten alternates, was bussed to the Florida school building where violence exploded four years ago.
Judge Elizabeth Scherer told the jurors that the visit was to help them analyse the evidence presented to them so far in the trial.
The suspect faces life imprisonment or the death penalty after pleading guilty to 17 counts of murder and 17 counts of attempted murder.
The area surrounding the school was closed off by law enforcement and the jury was accompanied by prosecutors, defence lawyers, and the judge.
Under Florida court rules the judge and lawyers are not allowed to speak to the jurors, and the jurors are not allowed to speak to each other as they retrace the suspect’s steps through the “1200 building.”
Since the massacre, the building has been sealed and surrounded by a fence.
Broward County school district plans to have it torn down when they are given permission by prosecutors, but for now, it remains as a piece of evidence in the case.
Officials say that the interior of the building has been left in almost exactly the same state since the shooting, with blood on the floor, and bullet holes scarring doors and walls.
The only thing removed from the scene in the wake of the shooting were the bodies of victims and their personal items, such as school backpacks.
The visit came on what would have been victim Joaquin Oliver’s 22nd birthday, his parents told CNN.
“We were, of course, knowing that this moment will arrive. It’s a moment that is part of a process,” said Manuel Oliver, Joaquin’s father.
“The most important thing here is what happened to our son, the way he suffered that day and what are we capable of doing after that. That’s what really matters here.”