Parkland alleged shooter told police ‘demon’ instructed him to kill 17 people
A newly released interview with the suspected shooter was released after news organisations sued for access
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Your support makes all the difference.The teenager charged with killing 17 people at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School on Valentine’s Day told police that a “demon” urged him to burn, kill, and destroy before the attack.
That is according to a recently released segment of a tape made just after officers arrested the 19-year-old in February in Parkland, Florida.
On the tape, the alleged shooter also said he wanted to die.
“Kill me,” he reportedly muttered to himself after an officer briefly left the room, according to a transcript. “Just (expletive) kill me. (Expletive)”.
The new portions of the transcript have been made publicly available after news organisations sued for their release under Florida’s public records law. A judge in Florida released the new segments Monday.
“Why didn’t he kill me?” the shooter says aloud at one point, though he does not clarify who he is talking about. “Why didn’t he kill me? Why didn’t he kill me? Why didn’t he kill me? Why didn’t he kill me?”
He also said that the demon in his told him to “Burn. Kill. Destroy”.
Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty for the alleged shooter, who has been identified as a former student at the school, Nikolas Cruz, 19.
Mr Cruz’s lawyers have offered to enter a guilty plea if prosecutors agree to a plea deal in which they spare him from the death penalty. But, that offer has been declined by the prosecutors on the case.
Since the shooting, it has been discovered through Mr Cruz’s educational records that the school did not provide adequate therapeutic services to him while he attended the school.
Mr Cruz dropped out of the high school in February 2017, and bought the AR-15 rifle that he allegedly used in the attack earlier this year.
Video taken by the shooter prior to the attack showed him saying he wanted the shooting to make him famous, and appearing to gleefully discuss the acts he was planning on carrying out.
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