The jurors in the Parkland shooting trial are set to walk through the high school to retrace the shooter’s steps as prosecutors wrap up their arguments in the coming weeks.
The 22 jurors will be transported from the Broward County Courthouse in Fort Lauderdale to Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School on Thursday to walk through the three-story building where 14 students and three teachers were killed in 2018. The building has been left mostly untouched since the shooting, with bloodstains still on the floors and the doors and the walls perforated with bullet holes.
PARKLAND SHOOTER NIKOLAS CRUZ’S TRIAL TO BEGIN NEXT WEEK IN FLORIDA
The jurors will be bused to the school under heavy security, and law enforcement plans to block off the area before escorting them through the building. Journalists will not be permitted to enter the school during the jurors’ visit, and no cameras will be allowed inside.
The 22 jurors will be walked through the shooter’s steps as he moved from classroom to classroom. The jurors will not be permitted to speak to each other, and the judge and attorneys will not be allowed to interact with them during the trip.
Prosecutors are hoping to use the experience to prove the shooter’s actions were cruel and calculated, building on their arguments by showing jurors surveillance footage of the shooting.
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The school has been blocked off by a chain-link fence since the shooting and is set to be demolished once prosecutors approve. In the meantime, the building has been used as a piece of evidence during the trial.
Nikolas Cruz pleaded guilty to 17 counts of first-degree murder last October, and the trial will determine whether the 23-year-old will be handed a death sentence or life without parole.
