Parkland, Fla., school gunman sentenced to life in prison

Parkland school shooter Nikolas Cruz formally received a sentence of life without parole Wednesday after families of his 17 slain victims spent two days describing him as evil, a coward, a monster and subhuman.

Cruz, shackled and in a red jail jumpsuit, watched intently as Judge Elizabeth Scherer sentenced him to 17 life terms for the Feb. 14, 2018, massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in suburban Fort Lauderdale and an additional 17 for the attempted murders of those he wounded.

Scherer had no other choice as the jury in Cruz's three-month penalty trial voted 9-3 on Oct. 13 to sentence him to death, but Florida law requires unanimity for that sentence to be imposed.

Cruz acknowledged under questioning by the judge before sentencing that he is on medication but could understand what was occurring.

The sentencing came after two days' worth of parents, wives, siblings and others of slain victims and some of the surviving wounded walking to a lectern just metres from Cruz to address him face to face.

'Good riddance'

The judge commended the families and wounded who testified, calling them strong, graceful and patient.

"I know you are going to be OK, because you have each other," Scherer said.

Some parents and other family members wept as she read. When she finished and Cruz was led from the courtroom, one father muttered, "Good riddance."

Cruz, 24, will be taken within days to the Florida prison system's processing centre near Miami before he is assigned to a maximum-security prison.

Families and the wounded spent two days verbally thrashing Cruz, wishing him a painful demise and lamenting that he could not be sentenced to death.

"He has escaped this punishment because a minority of the jury was given the power to overturn the majority decision made by people who were able to see him for what he is — a remorseless monster who deserves no mercy," Meghan Petty said.

Her younger sister, 14-year-old Alaina, died when Cruz fired his AR-15-style semi-automatic rifle into her classroom as he stalked the halls of a three-storey building for seven minutes, firing 140 shots. He had been planning the shooting for seven months.

"A person has to be incredibly sick to want to hurt another human being. Even sicker to dwell on the desire and craft a plan and unimaginably evil to execute that plan, which didn't just hurt people but ended lives," she said.

Scherer agreed to a prosecution request to first allow relatives of Cruz's victims to address the court before the sentence was handed down.  

'Where was your remorse?'

Cruz stared at the speakers, but showed little emotion.

Anthony Montalto III, whose older sister, 14-year-old Gina, was murdered by a bullet fired point-blank into her chest, said Tuesday that he was at the neighbouring middle school and heard the gunshots. He said he felt a pain in his chest — he believes it was a sign of his sister's death.

"To go from a younger brother to an only child … is a dramatic change for anyone," he said. He then criticized the defence claim that excessive drinking by Cruz's birth mother during pregnancy caused brain damage that led to a life of erratic and sometimes violent behaviour that culminated in the shooting.

Cruz was 19 at the time of his attack on Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., about 50 kilometres north of the courthouse in Fort Lauderdale. He had been expelled from the school.

Thomas Hixon's father, school athletic director Chris Hixon, was shot when he ran at Cruz, trying to stop him. The Navy veteran fell, wounded, and tried to take cover in an alcove, but Cruz walked over and shot him again.

Thomas Hixon, a Marine veteran, recalled Cruz claiming remorse a year ago when he pleaded guilty to the murders, setting the stage for the penalty trial.  

"Where was your remorse when you saw my father injured and bleeding on the floor and decided to shoot him for a third time?" Hixon told Cruz. "Your defence preyed on the idea of your humanity, but you had none for those you encountered on Feb. 14."

Ines Hixon, Thomas Hixon's wife and the daughter-in-law of Chris Hixon, called Cruz a "domestic terrorist."

Some of the survivors went on to organize a youth-led movement for tighter gun regulations in the United States, which has the highest rate of private gun ownership in the world and where mass shootings have become recurrent.