On Monday, Nikolas Cruz, the suspect in the Parkland school shooting, began his sentencing hearing.
Opening statements were made to the jury on the first day of the trial, and witnesses also gave testimony. The highlight of the day was Dylan Kraemer, 18, who testified against Nikolas Cruz and was one of the survivors of the shooting and a key witness to the case.
After Danielle Gilbert and Brittany Sinitch, Kraemer was the third witness summoned on the first day of the trial. Danielle Gilbert was a student at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School at the time of the massacre, while Sinitch was a teacher there.
One of the key pieces of evidence in the case was video of the incident that Gilbert recorded. While Kraemer was testifying, the footage was also shown in the courtroom.
Recalling the day of the incident, Kraemer stated:
“We wanted to get as many students as possible behind the filing cabinet [that we could] before we knocked it down. Eventually, the shooter began firing through the door’s window, bullets flying inside. Two people were dead when I turned and others had been shot.
Additionally, Kraemer informed the jury that Cruz wore “a giant AR-15” while donning a cap and vest.
Nikolas Cruz left 17 people dead in the shooting.
During the 2018 Parkland School Valentine’s Day massacre, Nikolas Cruz is accused of murdering 17 people and attempting to kill another 12. He is currently on trial. The jury consists of a bank of seven men and five women.
Nikolas had already pleaded guilty in a trial in October. Whether he receives the death penalty or life imprisonment will be decided during the ongoing trial. It should be remembered that the jury verdict must be unanimous in order to impose the death penalty.
Kraemer witnessed his six classmates being shot while he was in Class 1214 during the shooting. Kraemer discussed the incident and the pain it caused him in an old interview conducted a few months after the shooting.
Kraemer also spoke about his PTSD and the therapy he’s receiving for it. He explained:
I try to make things as normal as possible, but it will never be the same as it was in my previous life.