‘We had this monster living under our roof and we didn’t know’

PARKLAND: Nikolas Cruz was immature, quirky and depressed when James and Kimberly Snead took him into their Parkland home. But he was pleasant and seemed to be growing happier, they said.

How the 19yearold turned into a killer still baffles them.

‘‘We had this monster living under our roof and we didn’t know,’’ Kimberly Snead told the South Florida Sun Sentinel in an exclusive interview published yesterday.

‘‘We didn’t see this side of him. Everything seems to know; we didn’t know,’’ James Snead said. ‘‘It’s as simple as that.’’

Cruz still lived with the Sneads on Thursday when he killed 17 people — the worst school shooting since Sandy Hook.

The Sneads’ son had asked whether his friend could move into their home last Thanksgiving. Cruz’s mother, who had adopted him, died of pneumonia on November 1, leaving him without parents. He stayed briefly with a family friend in the Lantana area but wanted to move on.

The Sneads quickly agreed — though they realised he was extremely depressed about his mother’s death.

Five days before the shooting, Kimberly Snead took Cruz to the office of a therapist she had been seeing to deal with her grief over her father’s death. Cruz said he was open to therapy but didn’t like medication. He took a business card and was figuring out what his health insurance would cover.

James Snead (48) is a decorated army veteran and a military intelligence analyst who served in the Middle East between 198896. His wife (49) is a neonatal intensive care nurse.

They told Cruz there would be strict rules in their home.

‘‘I told him there’d be rules and he followed every rule to the T,’’ Mr Snead said.

The couple both grew up around guns and are comfortable with them, but insisted on gun safety.

They made Cruz buy a locking gun safe to put in his room the day he moved in. The teenager had some guns, including the AR15 and two other rifles Mr Snead said would be considered assault rifles. Cruz, a hunter, also had knives, BB guns and pellet guns.

Mr Snead thought he had the only key to the cabinet.

Cruz told them he stood to inherit at least $US800,000 ($NZ1.1 million) from his deceased parents. Most of the money would come when he turned 22, he said. The Sneads had since seen paperwork they thought supported the claim.

The Sneads were at the police station when Cruz was led in, handcuffed and wearing a hospital gown, surrounded by deputies.

‘‘He said he was sorry. He apologised. He looked lost, absolutely lost,’’ James said. ‘‘And that was the last time we saw him.’’—