The full arsenal of the 19-year-old Stoneman Douglas High School shooter Nikolas Cruz has been revealed for the first time. Cruz, who has been charged with the murder of 17 people in a shooting in Florida, reportedly owned seven 'long guns' - all of which he purchased legally from stores in the US.
Among the arsenal was an AK-47 rifle, which he is alleged to have bought just less than one month beforehand in Deerfield Florida, before commencing with the attack that left 17 dead and multiple people injured. According to an anonymous law enforcement official, Cruz is also believed to have owned three other guns that he acquired through illegal avenues.
Speaking to the press in wake of the shooting, Kim Waltuch, the owner of Gun World of South Florida, said that Cruz had passed all the necessary checks required for purchasing a gun and that the teenager had shown no signs of behaviours that would arouse suspicion during the purchase:
"He purchased a shotgun and an AK-47. He did purchase a shotgun in 2016 and he purchased the AK in January. He was not a regular customer of ours. He did purchase firearms from us but it was not the AR-15. We went through the process of the background checks which is the only way we release a firearm. He was immediately approved."
It's believed that Cruz used an AR-15 to carry out the shooting, although the ones which he bought from Waltuch's store are not thought to have been used to carry out the massacre.
Cruz made his first appearance in court on Monday and it's been reported that he failed to make eye contact with anyone present in the courtroom. His lawyers have said that the shooter will plead guilty as long as prosecutors agreed not to push for the death penalty, although this had not been agreed.
Speaking to the Sun-Sentinel, Broward Public Defender, Howard Finkelstein said that while Cruz should be sent to "prison for life", he claims that the system "failed him".
"There’s only one question: Should this young man live or should he die by execution? We believe it’s in nobody’s best interest to go through a circus of a trial.
"There’s no way anyone can minimize the tragedy of what took place. It’s time to mourn; it’s time to figure out how to prevent future tragedies.
"He should spend the rest of his life in prison, but he does not deserve to die.
"This kid didn’t have to fall through the cracks. He screamed for help and we failed him.
"He should never go free. Let him plead guilty and send him to prison for life."
In wake of the horrific events that took place in the school, hundreds of students are expected to urge lawmakers to look at America's policies when it comes to owning weapons. It's hoped that with the pressure from those that survived the attack, as well as people who are anti-guns, lawmakers will look into ways of preventing another massacre happening.
It's hard to see how people can be in favour of guns after multiple massacres have happened in the States over the past few years. If you allow anyone to carry a gun, it's never going to end well.
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