Mind of a school shooter

A FORMER student accused of last week’s deadly shooting at a Florida high school has returned to court for a hearing in a case that has galvanised advocates of stricter gun control in the US, including many of the rampage survivors.

Nikolas Cruz, his head bowed, hands shackled at his waist and wearing a red jail-issued jumpsuit, showed no emotion during the procedural session in Fort Lauderdale.

It ended with Broward Circuit Court Judge Elizabeth Scherer ruling that a defence motion filed last week remain sealed from public view. The content of the motion was not described in the hearing.

In a second hearing, Judge Charles Greene ordered the release of parts of a mental health assessment of Cruz by the Florida Department of Children and Families in November 2016. The report had already been leaked to media.

Cruz, who did not attend the second hearing, is facing 17 counts of premeditated mur- der after the attack at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland. It is the deadliest shooting ever at a US high school.

The suspect, whose mother died in November, was investigated by authorities after videos surfaced on Snapchat showing him cutting himself, the assessment by the Department of Children and Families said. Department secretary Mike Carroll said the records showed Cruz was getting mental health services before, during and after the assessment.

Cruz was living with his mother and attending school when it concluded, he said.

The FBI acknowledged it had failed to act on a tip called in last month warning that Cruz possessed a gun and the desire to kill. Greene agreed to the request by Cruz’s team of public defenders to release the assessment. But he stopped short of allowing the release of details of Cruz’s mental history and child abuse records.