Nikolas Cruz, the shooter in the horrific Parkland's Shooting Massacre, is facing additional charges after attacking a prison guard yesterday. The twenty-year-old, who is awaiting trial (February), was asked to not drag his feet as he walked. Cruz, responding in defiance, rushed the guard for his stun gun, but not before flipping him the bird and punching him square in the face.
A frame by frame account of Cruz's violent response was captured via overhead camera and clipped to the incident report.
Sgt. Raymond Beltran with the Broward County Sheriff's Office was wearing what incident report labels a "conductive electronic weapon," a lesser variant on the taser gun. Apparently, as the two grappled for position on the ground, the weapon was "discharged," letting off a current that struck both men.
"He is suffering from significant mental illness and significant trauma and he has some very difficult decisions to make shortly, and we're going to assist him with those decisions," public defender Gordon Weekes said, in response to the skirmish with Sgt. Raymond Beltran.
Nikolas Cruz is facing 17 counts of first-degree premeditated murder, as well as 17 counts of attempted murder in the first degree, the judge entering his not guilty as a consequence of his non-compliance (inability to comply).
The death penalty is believed to be among the options the prosecution is willing to explore when the Parkland case goes to trial in February.