Parkland shooter sentenced to 34 consecutive life terms in prison

A federal judge on Wednesday sentenced the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooter, Nikolas Cruz—who killed 17 people four years ago—to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Cruz, 24, received 34 consecutive life sentences—one for each victim. He had shot and killed 14 students and three school staff, and injured 17 others in Parkland, Florida in 2018. The prosecutors had sought the death penalty.

Families of the victims directly spoke to the shooter for the first time in four years in a tear- and rage-filled courtroom, after which the life sentence verdict was delivered that shocked the victims’ families who were expecting capital punishment.