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After Valentine’s Day massacre at MSD, Parkland shooter slurped on ICEE, video shows

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – Prosecutors showed surveillance videos that Nikolas Cruz’s defense didn’t want jurors to see.

The videos showed Cruz leisurely drinking a cherry and blue raspberry ICEE after shooting 34 people on Feb. 14, 2018, at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.

Carlos Rugeles, who testified during Cruz’s death penalty trial on Thursday, said he served the ICEE to Cruz at a Subway in Walmart.

Cruz walked to a nearby McDonald’s where John Wilford was waiting for his mother and trying to get a hold of his older sister, Madeleine “Maddy” Wilford. Cruz shared a booth with John and asked him for a ride.

“I was nervous. I was panicked. I also had a bad gut feeling about it,” John said about why he decided to not give Cruz a ride.

John Wilford points to Nikolas Cruz in Broward County court on Thursday in Fort Lauderdale. (Copyright 2022 by WPLG Local10.com - All rights reserved.)

John didn’t know Cruz had tried to kill his sister and she had lost consciousness. Cruz also shot Benjamin Wikander in the arm. Jurors saw a photo of his bloodied arm.

“My radial nerve was damaged and it hasn’t grown back totally. That is why I have to wear this brace,” Wikander said.

Benjamin Wikander testifies during Nikolas Cruz's death penalty trial on Thursday in Fort Lauderdale. (Copyright 2022 by WPLG Local10.com - All rights reserved.)

The officer who found and arrested Cruz also testified.

“I drew my weapon. He turned around and looked at me,” Officer Michael Leonard, of the Coconut Creek Police Department, said.

Cruz pleaded guilty to 17 counts of murder and 17 counts of attempted murder in October.

Michael Leonard, of the Coconut Creek Police Department, testifies in court on Thursday in Fort Lauderdale. (Copyright 2022 by WPLG Local10.com - All rights reserved.)

Jurors must decide if Cruz should be executed for his crimes. Without a unanimous agreement, Cruz is sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Broward Circuit Judge Elizabeth Scherer said the court was in recess until 10 a.m., on Friday.

Watch McDonald’s surveillance video

Watch Walmart’s and Subway’s surveillance video

Watch John Wilford’s testimony

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About the Author
Christina Vazquez headshot

Christina returned to Local 10 in 2019 as a reporter after covering Hurricane Dorian for the station. She is an Edward R. Murrow Award-winning journalist and previously earned an Emmy Award while at WPLG for her investigative consumer protection segment "Call Christina."

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