The video, compiled from 13 security cameras inside the building, was not shown in the gallery, where the parents of many of the victims were seated. Prosecutors say it shows Cruz shooting several of his victims at point-blank range, returning to some as they lay wounded on the floor to kill them with a second volley of gunfire. The 12 jurors and 10 alternates stared at their video screens. Many held their hands to their faces as they watched the 15-minute recording, which had no sound. Some began to crowd. A juror looked at the screen, looked at Cruz wide-eyed, then returned to the video. Cruz looked down while the video was playing and didn’t seem to see it. Sometimes he looked up to exchange whispers with one of his lawyers. The video was shown over the objection of Cruz’s lawyers, who argued that any probative value was outweighed by the emotions it would evoke in jurors. They argued that eyewitness accounts of what happened would be enough. U.S. District Judge Elizabeth Scherer rejected the appeal, saying that a video that accurately depicts Cruz’s crimes does not unfairly prejudice his case. Prosecutors are using the video to prove several aggravating factors, including that Cruz acted in a cold, calculated and cruel manner. Cruz, 23, pleaded guilty in October to 17 counts of first-degree murder and 17 other counts of attempted murder for those he injured. The court must decide whether he should be sentenced to death or life without parole before the nation’s deadliest mass killing goes before a jury. Later, during the second day of the trial, jurors heard testimony from Christopher McKenna, who was a freshman at the time of the shooting on Feb. 14, 2018. He had left his English class to go to the bathroom and exchanged greetings with two students, Luke Hoyer and Martin Duque, as they crossed paths in the first floor hallway. McKenna then entered a stairwell and encountered Cruz assembling his AR-15 semi-automatic rifle. Cruz, who had been expelled from Stoneman Douglas a year earlier, had entered the campus through a gate that opened for the end of the school day in about 20 minutes carrying the gun in a bag. “He said get out of here. Things are about to get bad,’” McKenna recalled. McKenna ran into the parking lot as Cruz entered the hallway and began shooting. McKenna alerted Aaron Feiss, an assistant football coach who doubled as a security guard. Face wheeled McKenna in his golf cart to an adjacent building for safety, then went to the three-story building from which McKenna fled. By then, the sounds of gunshots had already rang out across the campus. Face entered and was fatally shot immediately by Cruz, who had already killed Hoyer, 15, and Duque, 14, and eight others. Cruz then continued to the second floor, where he fired into the classrooms but did not hit anyone. When he reached the third floor, he killed six more. Jurors also heard testimony from English teacher Dara Hass, who killed three students and injured several in her classroom when Cruz fired through a window at the door. “The sound was so loud. The students were screaming,” said Hass, who teared up and dabbed at her eyes with a tissue as she testified. He thought it might be a drill, but then spotted the body of 14-year-old Alex Schachter, who had been fatally shot in his office. “Then I saw it wasn’t a drill,” he said. Two 14-year-old girls also died in the classroom: Alaina Petty and Alyssa Alhadeff. When the police arrived and evacuated her students, Hass said she didn’t want to leave, but the officers talked her out of it. “I wanted to stay with the students who couldn’t go,” she said, referring to Schachter, Petty and Alhadeff. When District Attorney Mike Satz showed her photos of their bodies in her classroom, she sobbed. A student in her class, Alexander Dworet, said he initially thought the loud bangs were the school band, but then felt a “hot sensation” in the back of his head where a bullet had grazed him and “I realized he was in danger”. He and other students moved away from the window, using Hass’s desk as a barrier. Dworet’s 17-year-old brother Nick was across the room in his Holocaust studies class. Cruz fired into that classroom as well, killing him. __ Associated Press writer Freida Frisaro in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., contributed to this report.
title: “Jurors Have Seen The Chilling Video Of The Florida School Shooting " ShowToc: true date: “2022-11-25” author: “Billy Kennedy”
The video, compiled from 13 security cameras inside the building, was not shown in the gallery, where the parents of many of the victims were seated. Later shown to reporters, it depicts Cruz crouching and stalking in a left-handed stance, shooting anything that moves, in halls and classrooms. He shoots several of his victims at point-blank range, returning to some as they lay wounded on the floor to kill them with a second volley of gunfire. In one segment, athletic director Chris Hixon bursts through a door to confront Cruz, but is injured and falls. He crawls behind a pillar. Cruz blasts him to death as he walks by. The 12 jurors and 10 alternates stared at the video screens as it played. Many held their hands to their faces as they watched the 15-minute recording, which had no sound. Some began to crowd. A juror looked at the screen, looked at Cruz wide-eyed, then returned to the video. Cruz looked down while the video was playing and didn’t seem to see it. Sometimes he looked up to exchange whispers with one of his lawyers. The video was shown over the objection of Cruz’s lawyers, who argued that any probative value was outweighed by the emotions it would evoke in jurors. They argued that eyewitness accounts of what happened would be enough. U.S. District Judge Elizabeth Scherer rejected the appeal, saying that a video that accurately depicts Cruz’s crimes does not unfairly prejudice his case. Prosecutors are using the video to prove several aggravating factors, including that Cruz acted in a cold, calculated and cruel manner. Cruz, 23, pleaded guilty in October to 17 counts of first-degree murder and 17 other counts of attempted murder for those he injured. The court must decide whether he should be sentenced to death or life without parole before the nation’s deadliest mass killing goes before a jury. Later, during the second day of the trial, jurors heard testimony from Christopher McKenna, who was a freshman at the time of the shooting on Feb. 14, 2018. He had left his English class to go to the bathroom and exchanged greetings with two students, Luke Hoyer and Martin Duque, as they crossed paths in the first floor hallway. McKenna then entered a stairwell and encountered Cruz assembling his AR-15 semi-automatic rifle. Cruz, who had been expelled from Stoneman Douglas a year earlier, had entered the campus through a gate that opened for the end of the school day in about 20 minutes carrying the gun in a bag. “He said get out of here. Things are about to get bad,’” McKenna recalled. McKenna ran into the parking lot as Cruz entered the hallway and began shooting. McKenna alerted Aaron Feiss, an assistant football coach who doubled as a security guard. Face wheeled McKenna in his golf cart to an adjacent building for safety, then went to the three-story building from which McKenna fled. By then, the sounds of gunshots had already rang out across the campus. Face entered and was fatally shot immediately by Cruz, who had already killed Hoyer, 15, and Duque, 14, and eight others. Cruz then continued to the second floor, where he fired into the classrooms but did not hit anyone. When he reached the third floor, the video shows, Cruz found students and teachers in the hallway preparing to evacuate. He fires at them as they try to escape. Two girls, 18-year-old Meadow Pollack and 14-year-old Cara Loughran, fall injured. He shoots them again as he passes. Peter Wang, 15, fell fatally wounded through the door. Jaime Guttenberg, 14, made it through the stairwell door before falling. Cruz would soon be running past their bodies, onto the athletic fields and mingling with the departing students, speeding past two girls carrying Valentine’s Day balloons. He would be arrested about an hour later in a neighborhood 3 miles (5 kilometers) away. Jurors also heard testimony from English teacher Dara Hass, who said three students were killed and several wounded in her classroom when Cruz fired through a window at the door. “The sound was so loud. The students were screaming,” said Hass, who teared up and dabbed at her eyes with a tissue as she testified. He thought it might be a drill, but then spotted the body of 14-year-old Alex Schachter, who had been fatally shot in his office. “Then I saw it wasn’t a drill,” he said. Two 14-year-old girls also died in the classroom: Alaina Petty and Alyssa Alhadeff. When the police arrived and evacuated her students, Hass said she didn’t want to leave, but the officers talked her out of it. “I wanted to stay with the students who couldn’t go,” she said, referring to Schachter, Petty and Alhadeff. A student in her class, Alexander Dworet, said he initially thought the loud bangs were the school band, but then felt a “hot sensation” in the back of his head where a bullet had grazed him and “I realized he was in danger”. He and other students moved away from the window, using Hass’s desk as a barrier. Dworet’s 17-year-old brother Nick was across the room in his Holocaust studies class. Cruz fired into that classroom as well, killing him. —— An earlier version of this story incorrectly stated that Hass was shown photographs of the victims’ bodies. —— Associated Press writer Freida Frisaro in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., contributed to this report.
title: “Jurors Have Seen The Chilling Video Of The Florida School Shooting " ShowToc: true date: “2022-12-08” author: “Cindy Wright”
The video, compiled from 13 security cameras inside the building, was not shown in the gallery, where the parents of many of the victims were seated. Prosecutors say it shows Cruz shooting several of his victims at point-blank range, returning to some as they lay wounded on the floor to kill them with a second volley of gunfire.
The 12 jurors and 10 alternates stared at their video screens. Many held their hands to their faces as they watched the 15-minute recording, which had no sound.
Some began to crowd. A juror looked at the screen, looked at Cruz wide-eyed, then returned to the video.
Cruz looked down while the video was playing and didn’t seem to see it. Sometimes he looked up to exchange whispers with one of his lawyers.
The video was shown over the objection of Cruz’s lawyers, who argued that any probative value was outweighed by the emotions it would evoke in jurors. They argued that eyewitness accounts of what happened would be enough.
U.S. District Judge Elizabeth Scherer rejected the appeal, saying that a video that accurately depicts Cruz’s crimes does not unfairly prejudice his case. Prosecutors are using the video to prove several aggravating factors, including that Cruz acted in a cold, calculated and cruel manner.
Cruz, 23, pleaded guilty in October to 17 counts of first-degree murder and 17 other counts of attempted murder for those he injured. The court must decide whether he should be sentenced to death or life without parole before the nation’s deadliest mass killing goes before a jury.
Later, during the second day of the trial, jurors heard testimony from Christopher McKenna, who was a freshman at the time of the shooting on Feb. 14, 2018. He had left his English class to go to the bathroom and exchanged greetings with two students, Luke Hoyer and Martin Duque, as they crossed paths in the first floor hallway. McKenna then entered a stairwell and encountered Cruz assembling his AR-15 semi-automatic rifle.
“He said get out of here. Things are about to get bad,’” McKenna recalled.
McKenna sprinted out into the parking lot as Cruz entered the hallway and began shooting. McKenna alerted Aaron Feiss, an assistant football coach who doubled as a security guard. Face wheeled McKenna in his golf cart to an adjacent building for safety, then went to the three-story building from which McKenna fled.
By then, the sounds of gunshots had already rang out across the campus. Face entered and was fatally shot immediately by Cruz, who had already killed Hoyer, 15, and Duque, 14, and eight others. Cruz then continued to the second floor, where he fired into the classrooms but did not hit anyone. When he reached the third floor, he killed six more.
Jurors also heard testimony from English teacher Dara Hass, who killed three students and injured several in her classroom when Cruz fired through a window at the door.
“The sound was so loud. The students were screaming,” said Hass, who teared up and dabbed at her eyes with a tissue as she testified. He thought it might be a drill, but then spotted the body of 14-year-old Alex Schachter, who had been fatally shot in his office.
“Then I saw it wasn’t a drill,” he said. Two 14-year-old girls also died in the classroom: Alaina Petty and Alyssa Alhadeff.
When police arrived and evacuated her students, Hass said she didn’t want to leave, but the officers talked her out of it.
“I wanted to stay with the students who couldn’t go,” she said, referring to Schachter, Petty and Alhadeff.
A student in her class, Alexander Dworet, said he initially thought the loud bangs were the school band, but then felt a “hot sensation” in the back of his head where a bullet had grazed him and “I realized he was in danger”.
Dworet’s 17-year-old brother Nick was across the room in his Holocaust studies class. Cruz fired into that classroom as well, killing him.
__
Associated Press writer Freida Frisaro in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., contributed to this report.
