Parkland shooter addresses court as he pleads guilty in high school massacre

A jury will decide if Nikolas Cruz will get the death penalty.

October 20, 2021, 2:14 PM

Nikolas Cruz pleaded guilty Wednesday to 17 counts of first-degree murder and 17 counts of attempted first-degree murder for killing 17 and injuring 17 others in the Parkland, Florida, school shooting.

Cruz replied "guilty" when Judge Elizabeth Scherer asked how he wanted to plea to the slaying or wounding of each victim.

Parents of the slain students watched from the courtroom and wiped tears from their eyes.

PHOTO: Gena Hoyer, mother of Luke Hoyer, hugs Debbie Hixon during a court recess following the guilty pleas of Parkland school shooter Nikolas Cruz at the Broward County Courthouse in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., Oct. 20, 2021.
Gena Hoyer, mother of Luke Hoyer, hugs Debbie Hixon during a court recess following the guilty pleas of Parkland school shooter Nikolas Cruz at the Broward County Courthouse in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., Oct. 20, 2021.
Amy Beth Bennett/POOL via Reuters

Cruz said in court, "I am very sorry for what I did and I have to live with it every day. … It brings me nightmares and I can't live with myself sometimes."

PHOTO: Nikolas Cruz sits at the defense table, Oct. 20, 2021, at the Broward County Courthouse in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
Nikolas Cruz sits at the defense table, Oct. 20, 2021, at the Broward County Courthouse in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
Amy Beth Bennett/South Florida Sun Sentinel via AP, Pool

Cruz said he believes the victims should be the ones to decide whether he gets the death penalty.

A jury will decide if Cruz, 23, will get the death penalty or life in prison.

PHOTO: Press members observe the image of the Parkland school shooter Nikolas Cruz through the Media Room's displays at the courtroom at the Broward County Courthouse in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., Oct. 20, 2021.
Press members observe the image of the Parkland school shooter Nikolas Cruz through the Media Room's displays at the courtroom at the Broward County Courthouse in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., Oct. 20, 2021.
Cristobal Herrera-Ulashkevich/EPA via Shutterstock

A prosecutor gave a timeline of the massacre, including Cruz's Uber ride to the school, which classrooms he fired into and who was shot when.

Manuel Oliver, father of 17-year-old victim Joaquin Oliver, told ABC News Live on Wednesday, "No one told me with details -- how my son was shot first and then was reshot two more times, so maybe he was still alive. That means that he was suffering a lot."

On Feb. 14, 2018, Cruz, then 19, gunned down 14 students and three staff members at his former school, Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. He was taken into custody that day.

PHOTO: In this Feb.14, 2018 file photo people are brought out of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School after a shooting at the school in Parkland, Fla.
In this Feb.14, 2018 file photo people are brought out of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School after a shooting at the school in Parkland, Fla.
Joe Raedle/Getty Images, FILE

Last week Cruz pleaded guilty to charges in connection to his attack on a jail guard in 2018.

Jury selection for the penalty phase will begin on Jan. 4.