{"id":11967,"date":"2018-08-07T12:23:11","date_gmt":"2018-08-07T16:23:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/?p=11967"},"modified":"2018-08-07T12:23:11","modified_gmt":"2018-08-07T16:23:11","slug":"parkland-school-shooting-suspect-says-demon-in-his-head-told-him-to-burn-kill-destroy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/2018\/08\/07\/parkland-school-shooting-suspect-says-demon-in-his-head-told-him-to-burn-kill-destroy\/","title":{"rendered":"Parkland school shooting suspect says demon in his head told him to \u2018Burn. Kill. Destroy\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>By Terry Spencer\u00a0\u00a0The Associated Press<\/p>\n<p>FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. \u2013\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/globalnews.ca\/tag\/parkland-school-shooting\/\">Florida school shooting<\/a>\u00a0suspect Nikolas Cruz told a detective that a demon in his head \u2013 \u201cthe evil side\u201d \u2013 told him to burn, kill and destroy, and that he thought about going to a park to kill people about a week before 17 people were gunned down at the school, according to a recently released transcript of his interrogation.<\/p>\n<p>During the more than 11 hours of questioning by Broward sheriff\u2019s Detective John Curcio, Cruz usually answered in short sentences or nodded yes or no, speaking so softly that the detective repeatedly told him to speak up. Twice when Curcio left the room, Cruz, 19, cursed at himself and said that he wanted to die, he deserved to die.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou\u2019re nothin\u2019,\u201d Cruz told himself, followed by cursing.<\/p>\n<p>The interrogation will be pored over by prosecutors and defence attorneys if Cruz attempts an insanity defence or for mitigating factors if he is convicted and faces the death penalty. Cruz\u2019s attorneys have said he would plead guilty in exchange for a sentence of life without parole.<\/p>\n<p><strong>WATCH: Father of Parkland shooting victim speaks during \u2018March on the NRA\u2019 event<\/strong><br \/>\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/globalnews.ca\/video\/embed\/4371534\/\" width=\"670\" height=\"372\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Prosecutors released the 216-page, heavily redacted transcript of Cruz\u2019s post-shooting statement on Monday after a judge ruled last month that nonconfession portions should be made public. The interrogation began about four hours after the Feb. 14 shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland and about 2 1\/2 hours after Cruz was captured as he walked down a nearby street.<\/p>\n<p>The Associated Press and other media had sought the statement\u2019s release under Florida\u2019s broad public records laws. Cruz\u2019s attorneys had wanted it suppressed, saying its disclosure could hinder his right to a fair trial.<\/p>\n<p>Cruz\u2019s statements about the shooting are blacked out, but the transcript is otherwise wide-ranging, dealing with the death of Cruz\u2019s parents, his penchant for killing animals, his former girlfriend, his brother, guns, suicide attempts and, especially, the voice. He told Curcio the voice appeared after his father died about 15 years ago but got worse after his mother died of pneumonia in November.<\/p>\n<p><strong>READ MORE:\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/globalnews.ca\/news\/4255407\/parkland-shooting-survivor-david-hogg-swat-prank\/\">Parkland shooting survivor David Hogg\u2019s home visited by SWAT team after prank call<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Cruz described the voice as a male, about his age, and said the only person he ever told about it was his brother.<\/p>\n<p>Curcio asked what the voice told him.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBurn. Kill. Destroy,\u201d Cruz responded.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBurn, kill, destroy what?\u201d the detective asked.<\/p>\n<p><strong>WATCH:\u00a0Parkland, Florida students hold \u2018die-in\u2019 at Publix to protest contributions to NRA<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/globalnews.ca\/video\/embed\/4233887\/\" width=\"670\" height=\"372\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnything,\u201d Cruz responded.<\/p>\n<p>He told Curcio that he had to fight the voice from taking over, that it was always bad. Curcio questioned that, asking how it could always be bad if Cruz had held down a job at a discount store for two years.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe voice is in here,\u201d he said, apparently pointing to his head. \u201cAnd then it\u2019s me. It\u2019s just regular me trying to be a good person.\u201d Curcio said everyone has a good and bad side.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDo they really?\u201d Cruz said.<\/p>\n<p><strong>READ MORE:\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/globalnews.ca\/news\/4234075\/parkland-students-die-in-protest-nra\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Parkland students hold \u2018die-in\u2019 protests at supermarket linked to NRA supporter<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>He said the voice tried to get him to shoot people at a park a week earlier. Or maybe it was three. Cruz couldn\u2019t remember exactly, but he didn\u2019t want to do it. Curcio asked why he didn\u2019t.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI \u2026 I don\u2019t know,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>Cruz told Curcio he wanted to join the Army to be a Ranger but he failed the written exam \u201cbecause I was stupid.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Cruz said he bought the AR-15 allegedly used in the shooting a year before because it was \u201ccool looking\u201d and \u201cto feel safe.\u201d He said he bought other guns but fired them only twice, both times into the cement floor of his mother\u2019s garage.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt didn\u2019t bounce all over hell and creation?\u201d Curcio asked. No, Cruz replied, saying the bullets embedded in the concrete.<\/p>\n<p>Cruz said he tried to kill himself with an over-the-counter pain reliever after his mom died and years earlier had tried to drink himself to death because he was lonely.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou don\u2019t have a lot of friends?\u201d Curcio asked.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo.\u201d Cruz said he goes fishing with the demon.<\/p>\n<p>Curcio told Cruz he doesn\u2019t believe the voice exists, but Cruz insisted it was there and said he wanted to see a psychiatrist.<\/p>\n<p>At the end of the interrogation, the detective let Cruz\u2019s 18-year-old brother into the room.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou \u2013 your \u2013 people think you\u2019re a monster now,\u201d Zachary Cruz told him.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cA monster?\u201d Cruz responded.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou\u2019re not acting like yourself. Like, why? Like, we\u2019ve \u2026 this is not who you are. Like, come on. Why did you do this? This is \u2026 don\u2019t even laugh at me,\u201d Zachary Cruz said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m sorry, dude,\u201d Nikolas Cruz replied.<\/p>\n<p>Source\u00a0 <a href=\"https:\/\/globalnews.ca\/news\/4374046\/parkland-school-shooting-suspect-says-demon-in-his-head-told-him-to-burn-kill-destroy\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">globalnews.ca<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<div class=\"mh-excerpt\">By Terry Spencer\u00a0\u00a0The Associated Press FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. \u2013\u00a0Florida school shooting\u00a0suspect Nikolas Cruz told a detective that a demon in his head \u2013 \u201cthe evil side\u201d \u2013 told him to burn, kill and destroy, and <a class=\"mh-excerpt-more\" href=\"https:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/2018\/08\/07\/parkland-school-shooting-suspect-says-demon-in-his-head-told-him-to-burn-kill-destroy\/\" title=\"Parkland school shooting suspect says demon in his head told him to \u2018Burn. Kill. Destroy\u2019\">[&#8230;]<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":11974,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pmpro_default_level":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2,3],"tags":[5052,5345],"class_list":{"0":"post-11967","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-news","8":"category-usa","9":"tag-nikolas-cruz","10":"tag-parkland-school-shooting","11":"pmpro-has-access"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11967","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/14"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11967"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11967\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11976,"href":"https:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11967\/revisions\/11976"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11974"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11967"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11967"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11967"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}