Parkland School Shooter, who stands accused of killing 17 people in a Florida High School mass shooting, will be tried starting Monday but for another violent offense.
Nikolas Cruz, 23, is facing charges of attempted criminal battery on a law enforcement officer among other charges for allegedly fighting it out with Sgt. Raymond Beltran nine months after his arrest for the mass shooting.
Surveillance footage caught Cruz and Beltran trading punches on a recreational area of the Broward County Jail after the guard reportedly asked him to stop dragging his feet and damaging his sandals.
“The accused murderer who took our children’s lives is clearly violent and took that out on a guard,” Stand With Parkland President Tony Montalto said.
“He needs to face the justice system for that,” Montalto, who lost his teen daughter in the shooting, added.
Cruz’s defense attorney argued that Beltran had been mistreating him since his arrest and that he was the only correctional officer whom they’d ever complained of.
Jury selection for the jailhouse assault offense starts Monday.