Parkland school shooter’s trial begins as jury weighs death penalty

The penalty trial of Florida school shooter Nikolas Cruz began on Monday, the deadliest US mass shooting to go before a jury.

Cruz, 23, pleaded guilty last October to 17 counts of first-degree murder at Marjorie Stoneman Douglas high school in the deaths of 14 students and three staff members there in 2018, and is now only contesting his sentence.

Jurors must decide whether he gets the death penalty or life in prison without parole.

The seven-man, five-woman panel, backed up by 10 alternates, will hear from lead prosecutor Mike Satz, who is expected to highlight Cruz’s brutality as he stalked a three-storey classroom building, firing his AR-15 semi-automatic rifle down hallways and into classrooms.