Teen shooter appears in court “He’s remorseful”
8SA - A cowering Nikolas Cru] was comforted by his public defender as he was ordered held without bail during his first court appearance on Thursday, in connection to the deadly shooting at a 3arkland, )lorida high school on :ednesday that left 17 dead and 14 injured.
The 1 -year-old wore an orange jump suit and shackles on his wrists and ankles as he was officially charged with 17 counts of premeditated murder. +e kept his eyes down and didn’t speak in court other than to confirm his name with a polite µyes ma’am’ to the judge. Standing ne[t to him was his public defender, 0elisa 0cNeil, who comforted him by putting a hand around his shoulder. After the hearing, Cru]’s defense team revealed that he was on suicide watch and that he understood the magnitude of his actions. 0cNeill told reporters gathered outside the courtroom that her client was sad and remorseful. µ+e’s sad. +e’s mournful. +e’s remorseful. +e is fully aware of what is going on, and he’s just a broken human being,’ she said. She became emotional while speaking to reporters, saying she’s fully aware of the impact the shooting has had on the community, as a parent herself. µI had to have the e[act same conversation that every parent in Broward had to have with their children this morning, then I had to walk and meet with him,’ 0cNeill said. µI’m fully aware of the impact this has on the people who live here. According to her LinkedIn, she has worked in the homicide division of the Broward public defender’s office since 2000.
Another member of the defense team, Gordon :eeks, was brought to tears as he addressed reporters, telling them that Cru] µrecogni]es’ what he has done and is µdeeply sad’. µ+e is dealing with the shock of all this that’s going on,’ :eeks said. 0cNeill and :eeks said that Cru] suffers from autism, depression and has dealt with significant psychological problems - all without the sort of support system that most people have. µ:hen your brain is not fully developed, you don’t know how to deal with these things,’ 0cNeil said. µThat’s the child I’m sitting across from.’ :eeks added µThe child is deeply troubled and he has endured significant trauma that stems from the loss of his mother.’ )lorida Attorney General 3am Bondi has said she is µcertain’ prosecutors will be seeking the death penalty for the teen shooter.
3resident 'onald Trump lashed out at the )BI, describing its failure to follow up on a tip about )lorida school shooter Nikolas Cru] as ³very sad.´ The )BI has said it failed to act on information about Cru], who massacred 17 people :ednesday at his former high school in 3arkland.
The shooting reignited demands for tougher gun laws, with student survivors gathering in )ort Lauderdale on Saturday to critici]e Trump and other lawmakers for their inaction.
But Trump shifted blame to the )BI, saying it is devoting too much time to investigating his presidential campaign. ³9ery sad that the )BI missed all of the many signals sent out by the )lorida school shooter,´ the 3resident tweeted a day after he visited hospitali]ed survivors of the shooting.
(Daily Mail)