Parkland Shooting Victims
Nikolas Cruz killed 17 people and wounded 17 others at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. He was sentenced to life without parole.
On February 14, 2018, Valentine's Day, nineteen-year-old former student Nikolas Cruz entered Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, and opened fire with an AR-15 rifle. He killed 14 students and 3 staff members and wounded 17 others.
Cruz had been expelled from the school the previous year for disciplinary reasons. Multiple warning signs had been reported to the FBI and local police before the shooting, but no preventive action was taken.
The shooting catalyzed the student-led March for Our Lives movement, which advocated for gun control legislation. Several Parkland survivors became prominent activists.
Cruz pleaded guilty to 17 counts of first-degree murder in October 2021. In November 2022, the jury recommended life without parole rather than the death penalty, a decision that drew criticism from victims' families.
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