Nikolas Cruz

Nikolas Cruz
Nikolas Cruz
	Cruz's mugshot following his arrest.
Born	Nikolas Jacob Cruz; September 24, 1998; Margate, Florida, U.S.
Education	Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School (expelled)
Known for	Perpetrator of the Parkland high school shooting
Criminal status	Incarcerated in Florida
Motive	Disputed: Revenge for perceived social rejection (prosecution); Brain dysfunctions caused by fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (defense); Declining mental health and depression (defense); Attempt to ruin Valentine's Day (self-declared);
Convictions	Premeditated first-degree murder (17 counts); Attempted first-degree murder (17 counts);
Criminal penalty	34 consecutive life sentences without the possibility of parole
Details
Date	February 14, 2018
Country	United States
State	Florida
Locations	Parkland, Broward County
Targets	Students and staff at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School
Killed	17
Injured	17
Weapon	Smith & Wesson M&P15 Sport II semi-automatic rifle

Nikolas Jacob Cruz (born September 24, 1998) is an American mass shooter who perpetrated the Parkland high school shooting, one of the deadliest school shootings in the United States. On February 14, 2018, Cruz killed seventeen people, including fourteen students and three staff members, while injuring seventeen others, at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. In November 2022, Cruz was sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole. It remains the deadliest highschool shooting by a lone shooter in the United States.

Cruz had been known for his behavioral problems since preschool, and as a teenager on social media, he shared his obsessions with mass shootings and expressed racist, sexist, antisemitic, xenophobic, and homophobic views. He was a member of the Junior Reserve Officers' Training Corps. He legally purchased various firearms before the shooting.