Expert: School shooter’s mother drank heavily in pregnancy
Fetal alcohol researcher testifies school shooter Nikolas Cruz’s birth mother drank more during pregnancy than any woman he’s ever seen documented. More
September 13, 2022
Mass Killings
This type of violence involves the killing of four or more individuals in a single location, not including the perpetrator.
Psychologist: School shooter suffered fetal alcohol damage
At 5, tests showed Nikolas Cruz had impairments in 10 intellectual categories including memory, reasoning, language and impulsivity, a doctor said. More
September 13, 2022
Ohio prosecutor: Family spent months planning slayings of 8
Defendant George Wagner IV was charged in Pike County Court in the 2016 slayings of the Rhoden family near Piketon in southern Ohio. More
September 12, 2022
Testimony: School shooter’s home ruled by chaos
Chaos reigned in the home where Florida school shooter Nikolas Cruz grew up, testimony in his ongoing penalty trial has shown. More
September 12, 2022
Raised with trauma, Sandy Hook survivors send hope to Uvalde
The survivors who were able to walk out of Sandy Hook Elementary School nearly a decade ago want to share a message of hope with the children of Uvalde. More
September 7, 2022
In new gun law, a quiet breakthrough for victims of abuse
Lawmakers crafted a major bipartisan law on gun violence. The measure, signed by President Joe Biden, was part of a response to a string of shootings over the summer, including the slaying of 19 children at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas. The package included tougher background checks for the youngest gun buyers and help for states to put in place “red flag” laws that make it easier for authorities to take weapons from people adjudged dangerous. More
September 6, 2022
Uvalde students go back to school for 1st time since attack
Students in Uvalde went back to school Tuesday for the first time since a gunman killed 19 children and two teachers in a classroom attack. More
September 6, 2022
Judge: Jury can see swastikas school shooter drew in class
In a failed attempt to bar the admission into evidence several swastikas Florida school shooter Nikolas Cruz drew on assignments, his attorneys made an unusual argument Thursday at his penalty trial: he was an equal opportunity killer who shot his victims without regard to race or religion. More
September 1, 2022
US argues Supreme Court shouldn’t review Dylann Roof case
Attorneys for the DOJ argued in the 39-page brief that Roof “fails to identify any meaningful disagreement in the lower courts” over how his legal representation played out at trial. More
September 1, 2022
Neighbor: School shooter killed toads after 1 poisoned dog
Paul Gold, who lived next door to the Cruz family when the future mass killer was 10 to 12 years old, told jurors he knew Cruz had psychological problems from their first meeting. More
August 31, 2022
Parkland shooter’s jail cell scribblings include ‘666’ written in blood
By Katie McLaughlin FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (Court TV) — An open records request has revealed how Parkland Shooter Nikolas Cruz spent some of his time behind bars, and the results are nothing short of disturbing. Earlier this year, after jury selection began in the penalty phase of the trial, officers discovered dozens of […] More
August 31, 2022
WATCH LIVE: School shooter made threats years earlier
During his middle school years, Florida school shooter Nikolas Cruz frequently cursed at teachers and made threats, and his drawings of gunshot victims were so disturbing that one teacher kept them for years, turning them over to authorities immediately after he massacred 17 people. More
August 30, 2022
Jury selection begins for death penalty case in slaying of 8
Jury selection began on Monday for George Wagner IV, who faces a potential death sentence if convicted of the murders of eight people. More
August 29, 2022
Testimony: School shooter witnessed dad’s death at age 5
Florida school shooter Nikolas Cruz's attorneys presented testimony that the mass killer exhibited violent, disruptive and troubled behavior from his earliest years and, just before his sixth birthday, witnessed his adoptive father's sudden death. More
August 29, 2022
OH v. George Wagner IV: Ohio Family Massacre Trial
George Wagner IV, the first in his family to stand trial, was convicted of the murders of 8 members of the Rhoden family. More
August 26, 2022
Letter: School shooter fixated with guns, dreamed of killing
Four years before Nikolas Cruz murdered 17 people at a Florida high school, therapists at another school wrote a letter to his psychiatrist saying he was fixated on guns and dreamed of killing others and being covered in blood. More
August 25, 2022
Uvalde school police chief fired for response to shooting
The Uvalde school district fired police chief Pete Arrendondo on Wednesday, making him the first officer to lose his job over the hesitant and fumbled response by law enforcement at Robb Elementary School as a gunman killed 19 students and two teachers in a fourth-grade classroom. More
August 24, 2022
Psychologist: School shooter didn’t get consistent treatment
A psychologist who treated Florida school shooter Nikolas Cruz when he was 8 years old testified Wednesday that Cruz was a “peculiar child” who had many behavioral and developmental issues but his widowed mother seemed overwhelmed and wasn’t consistent in her discipline or in getting him treatment. More
August 24, 2022
Testimony: Florida school shooter was intellectually slow
By TERRY SPENCER and FREIDA FRISARO Associated Press FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — Florida school shooter Nikolas Cruz as a toddler was intellectually and physically behind other children, which caused him to isolate himself and hit and bite to get what he wanted, a daycare administrator and former neighbor testified Tuesday at his penalty trial for mass […] More
August 23, 2022
Florida school shooter’s birth mom abused cocaine, alcohol
Melisa McNeill, Cruz's lead public defender, is expected to give her opening statement Monday, having deferred its presentation from the start of the trial a month ago. More
August 22, 2022
School shooter’s brain exams to be subject of court hearing
Soon, it will be Cruz's attorneys arguing why he should be spared, hoping to convince at least one juror their mitigating factors outweigh the prosecution's aggravating circumstances — a death sentence must be unanimous. More
August 15, 2022
Parkland shooter’s prosecutor had bloody facts on his side
The prosecutor seeking to sentence Florida school shooter Nikolas Cruz to death let the facts speak for themselves as he presented his case. More
August 8, 2022
Firsthand look: Preserved crime scene of Parkland School Massacre
Court TV Field Producer Emanuella Grinberg was one of five journalists who participated in the jury tour of the preserved crime scene of the 2018 massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Florida. More
August 4, 2022
Dried blood and roses: Jury gets rare look at Parkland scene
Jurors in the trial of Florida school shooter Nikolas Cruz are expected to walk through the still blood-spattered rooms of Parkland's Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School on Thursday. More
August 4, 2022
Grieving father erupts at Parkland school shooter’s trial
“My first-born daughter, daddy's girl was taken from me!” yelled Dr. Alhadeff, the father of victim 14-year-old Alyssa Alhadeff. More
August 3, 2022
At school shooter’s trial, families recall lives lost
By TERRY SPENCER Associated Press FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — Family members from three of Florida school shooter Nikolas Cruz’s 17 victims gave heartrending testimony Monday about how their 2018 deaths at Parkland’s Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School have affected their lives, detailing lost loves, lost moments and even fading memories. The sister of student […] More
August 1, 2022
Parkland trial a rare, curtailed look at mass shooting gore
Since most of the worst U.S. mass shooters were killed by themselves or police during or immediately after their attack, it is rare for anyone outside government to see such surveillance videos or police and autopsy photos. More
August 1, 2022
Attorney for Oxford families asks court to release school shooting footage
The video has been held by law enforcement and school officials who have not yet released it citing privacy concerns. More
July 28, 2022
Jurors see Florida school shooter’s violent internet posts
.Broward County sheriff’s Detective Nick Masters read hundreds of searches and comments Cruz made starting seven months before the Feb. 14, 2018, massacre as prosecutors try to prove he planned it. More
July 27, 2022
Florida school shooter’s AR-15 rifle shown to his jurors
Jurors in the penalty trial of Florida school shooter Nikolas Cruz got their first view Monday of the AR-15-style rifle he used to murder 17 students and staff members four years ago at Parkland's Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. More
July 25, 2022