Miami (AFP) - A Florida court began jury selection Monday to determine whether Nikolas Cruz, a former student accused of killing 17 people at his old school in Parkland in 2018, should be sentenced to death or life in prison.
Cruz pleaded guilty in October to 17 counts of murder and 17 attempted murders.
On February 14, 2018, he killed 17 students and employees with an AR-15 semi-automatic rifle at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, where he had been expelled a year earlier for disciplinary reasons.
The selection of 12 jurors and eight alternates could take weeks due to the difficulty of finding people who can claim to be impartial in such a high-profile case that shocked the country.
On the day of the massacre, Cruz arrived at the school in an Uber, rushed into the building and began shooting. He left the scene nine minutes later.
The confessed killer, now 23, was known for his obsession with guns, and several of his classmates had singled him out as a possible threat.
After his arrest, police recovered videos on his phone in which where he claimed he was going to murder "at least 20 people" at the school.
In October, when he pleaded guilty, he apologized to relatives of the victims.
"I am very sorry for what I did and I have to live with it every day," he said at the time. "It brings me nightmares."
His trial could last about six months, according to the judge in charge of the case, Elisabeth Scherer.
In Florida, a jury must vote unanimously to impose the death penalty. If its members cannot agree, the defendant is sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
The Parkland shooting opened an unprecedented debate about limiting gun sales in the United States. But more than four years later, the polarized US Congress has yet to vote on any meaningful reforms on gun ownership.
Cruz was able to legally acquire a semi-automatic rifle, despite having a history of mental health problems. After his arrest, he told an officer that he heard demons telling him to "buy guns, kill animals and destroy everything."
