Accused shooter Nikolas Cruz pleaded guilty on Wednesday in the 2018 mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, the deadliest ever at a US high school.
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At a hearing, Cruz, 23, began entering guilty pleas to 17 counts of murder and 17 counts of attempted murder in the Valentine's Day attack. His lawyer, David Wheeler, Broward County's chief assistant public defender, said last week Cruz intended to plead guilty to the charges.
Cruz was a 19-year-old expelled student with a history of mental health and behavioral issues at the time of the "cold, calculated and premeditated" killings, Broward County's State's Attorney Office in Broward County said in court documents.
The gun violence on Feb. 14, 2018, left 14 students and three staff dead and 17 others injured.
Because prosecutors have vowed to seek the death penalty, his change of plea from not guilty would open the penalty phase in which a jury would decide whether he should be sentenced to life in prison or death.
