The couple who took in Parkland school shooting suspect Nikolas Cruz reportedly testified at his indictment hearing Wednesday about the text messages he sent their son just before he entered Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School on February 14, fatally shooting 17 people.
The attorney for Kimberly and James Snead, the couple who took Cruz in after his mother’s death, described the contents of the text messages in an interview with the Palm Beach Post.
Jim Lewis, the lawyer, told the newspaper that Cruz had sent the Snead’s son, a student at the high school, a text message at around 2 p.m. that day, less than half an hour before he started shooting. Cruz reportedly asked his friend what classroom he was in and who the teacher was. The suspect than told his friend to ask the teacher if he remembered Cruz.
Shortly after, Cruz reportedly said in a message to the teenager along the lines of “I’ve got something big to tell you.”
When the student asked what he meant, he backtracked, saying “No big deal. Nothing bad.”
In his final message in the exchange, Cruz simply texted “Yo.” The Snead’s son sent multiple responses, but never got a reply. Just minutes later, Cruz entered the high school and opened fire.
As CrimeOnline previously reported, Cruz briefly went to live with a former neighbor and family friend just after his mother died, but he and the woman clashed over his guns. The Sneads allowed him to keep guns in a locked safe.
Their lawyer insisted that although Cruz was depressed about his mother’s death, his clients saw no warning signs of what was to come.
“There was nothing to give any clue that this was about to happen,” Lewis told the Palm Beach Post.
“No bad feelings about anybody’s school. No bad feelings about Douglas in general.”
Cruz was indicated on 17 charges of murder and 17 charges of attempted murder. He remains in custody in Broward County jail.
[Feature image: Nikolas Cruz/Associated Press]
