Report details BSO detective's interviews with witnesses, gunman in MSD massacre

'Do you think you can try to get me killed?' Nikolas Cruz asked detective

PARKLAND, Fla. – A report released Thursday details Broward Sheriff's Office Detective John Curcio's interviews with witnesses and the gunman himself in the Feb. 14 Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School massacre.

The report details the events of the tragic afternoon from the first 911 calls to hearing from a campus monitor that the shooter could be Nikolas Cruz.

It notes that radio systems couldn't be patched together and that some victims said they tried to hide.

One tried to hide in a bathroom, but the bathroom was locked and was then shot in the leg.

Another victim said Cruz was wearing a hoodie and looked like the "Grim Reaper."

And a third said she tried to call 911 but could not get a signal.

When Cruz was taken into custody and hospitalized, he told officials he was allergic to penicillin and was suicidal, the report stated.

Crime scene technicians said they saw a swastika on the left side of Cruz's right boot.

The report also outlined in detail the wounds the surviving victims suffered, as well as where all the deceased victims were found inside the building.

Curcio also detailed more of his interrogation with Cruz, including a moment when Cruz asked him, "Do you think you can try to get me killed or something?"

He wrote that Cruz bit himself on the wrist and admitted he bought the AR-15 used in the shooting because it was "cool looking."

Cruz also claimed he brought his phone with headphones and was listening to music as he entered the school, specifically a song called "Salad Days," the report stated. 

The report also outlines a police interview with Cruz's brother, Zachary Cruz, who said Nikolas Cruz talked about suicide, and would listen to the song "Pumped Up Kids" while holding guns and simulating shooting people.

Zachary Cruz asked his brother after the shooting, "Why did you do it?" 

Nikolas reportedly replied, "Demon."

The report lists the weapons found by detectives and details videos found on Cruz's phone, in which he talks about why he wants to carry out the shooting.

It also names a Deerfield Beach High School student who lived near the Dollar Tree where Cruz worked. She was listed in his phone as "Love of your life." 

Curcio reported that she said Cruz left her voicemails saying she was a girlfriend, but she didn't feel the same way. She said he texted her once saying he "felt like killing people."

"Nikolas, I really cannot deal with you like this all the time…I cannot deal with your depressive bouts and instability, I am not your mother," the student once texted him.

Cruz responded to the girl by telling her he wanted her to be his girlfriend.

"Not happening," she responded. 

Notes found on Cruz's cellphone also showed messages he had written to and about the student on Feb. 5, but it doesn't appear he ever sent them to her.

"I'm in love with you, Angie, my love. You have been the sweetest, gentle being of my heart. I love you," the note read. "Please be with me in the after life, my dearest sweetheart :`) I will always dream about you even if I do stupid things. Your (sic) nothing but love in my life. I can't stand a day without you even after I've been a worthless trash can. I wish for you to be (in) my will. Everything I leave behind, it belongs to you and my brother. The half of the cash goes to you and my brother."

Another note read, "My love towards her grows. Without her, I'm nothing. All this madness inside is about to Burst without her. I have nothing. I wish we could love. I wish we could live, but at the end to her it's probably nothing. But that's OK cause I love her. I love you my angel Angie. Angie if I don't die, please see me. It will bring happiness to me. I want to love. I want to be in love with you forever and ever with no end in sight :`) Even if I'm raped to death, you will always be on my mind. That's how much my love is for you. I see you not as a person but as a soul lover -- a love that will never be broken."

Two girls named in the report said Cruz never talked about "demons" to them.

Cruz remains in jail as he awaits trial in the shooting deaths of 17 students and employees at the school in Parkland. 

 


About the Author:

Janine Stanwood joined Local 10 News in February 2004 as an assignment editor. She is now a general assignment reporter. Before moving to South Florida from her Washington home, Janine was the senior legislative correspondent for a United States senator on Capitol Hill.