MIAMI – On day four of the Nikolas Cruz sentencing trial, the state painted a picture of what unfolded after the mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.
Lead prosecutor Mike Satz depicted to the jury the shooters movements after he killed 17 and injured 17 others.
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Satz started off at the Subway located inside the Walmart. Carlos Rugales, a Subway employee, was called to the stand as a witness for the state.
Rugales was the man who served Cruz an icey, seen on video surveillance that was played for the court.
After Subway, Cruz then walked to a McDonald’s on Coral Ridge Dr. That’s where he joined former MSD student John Wilford sitting in a booth waiting for his mom to pick him up.
Wilford said in witness testimony, “He asked me for a ride and he was pretty insistent on it and I said no. I just wasn’t really thinking that much of it…I was just trying to get home, my sister wasn’t answering her phone, I was nervous, I was panicked and I also had a bad gut feeling about it.”
After getting declined a ride home, Cruz then walks into a residential neighborhood. That’s where officer Michael Leonard of the Coconut Creek Department was patrolling. Leonard testified that he turned off his patrol car’s camera right before seeing Cruz round the corner.
He saw Cruz matched the description of the shooter wearing a maroon shirt, jeans and a hat.
Leonard exited the vehicle and approached the shooter. He told Cruz to put his hands up and checked for a weapon. Leonard said in his testimony, “He followed all my instructions. I asked to see his hands to make sure he wasn’t armed. I have him down on the ground. I asked him what his name was he told me…Nikolas Cruz.”
On Thursday, in total the state called 7 witnesses. The court is currently discussing when the walkthrough of the 1200 building, where the massacre took place, is going to happen.
The court will reconvene Friday morning at 10 a.m.
