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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
World
Liam Buckler

Haunting moment Parkland shooter chills in McDonald's after gunning down 17 at school

This is the haunting moment the Parkland school shooter goes to McDonald's and speaks to another student after gunning down 17 victims.

Former student Nikolas Cruz, who was 19 at the time, had just committed a mass killing at Stoneman Douglas High School on February 14, 2018 when he strolled off down a residential high street.

It was there where he decided to enter McDonald's and sat next to student John Wilford, whose sister Maddy Wilford was left in a life-threatening condition after Cruz shot her three times.

Mr Wilford gave evidence at Cruz's trial where he confessed he had walked into the nearby fast-food chain after fleeing the shooting as he waited for his mum to collect him.

He had desperately tried to contact his younger sister to make sure she was safe but he was unable to get in touch with her.

Mr Wilford decided to go to McDonald's and wait for his mum when Cruz sat next to the student.

The gunman asked him if he could get a lift home but he was refused.

Mr Wilford said: “He was pretty insistent on it, and I said no. I was just trying to get home, my sister wasn’t answering her phone.

Former student Nikolas Cruz was 19 at the time (AFP/Getty Images)

"I was nervous, I was panicked. I also had a bad gut feeling about it.”

However, the student was unaware that he was sat next to the man responsible for the massacre which killed 14 students and three adults.

The killer had walked to Walmart where he purchased a soft drink at Subway before heading to McDonald's and sat next to the student's table.

Mr Wilford, who gave evidence in the trial, said: “He just sat down next to me. I didn’t think much of it. I was panicked. I was just trying to get back home.”

He admitted he wasn't sure who was sat next to him but as Cruz had the same school uniform on as him he assumed he was one of the students who fled the shooting.

Mr Wilford was told just hours later the man who sat next to him in McDonald's was responsible for shooting his 15-year-old sister at least three times.

CCTV footage inside McDonald's show the killer talking to Mr Wilford but he soon walks out and was arrested just 40 minutes later.

It was revealed the gunman used a semiautomatic rifle and 300 rounds of ammunition during the nine-minute shooting.

He walked into Building 12, which is known as the freshman building, with a rifle bag and began shooting at students and staff.

A total of 17 people were left dead and 17 were injured during the attack.

After the shooting he left the school without being apprehended as he abandoned his gun, a tactical vest and some magazines loaded with ammunition.

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