Featured Image Credit: Law&Crime
Topics: US News, News, Animal Cruelty
Gabriella Ferlita
Parkland shooter Nikolas Cruz acted out how he skinned lizards alive aged four in a chilling video.
The video, which was shown in court during his sentencing trial on Tuesday, shows the shooter recalling one of the first moments he was ‘unkind to an animal’ during a psychiatric evaluation. Watch the video below:
Cruz explains in the clip how he disgustingly tortured and killed innocent animals to Dr Charles Scott, the prosecutor’s rebuttal witness, who interviewed the Parkland gunman across three full days in March 2022 as part of his evaluation.
The interview shown in the video took place on 2 March, and showed the doctor asking the mass murderer when he first began to abuse animals.
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Cruz, who tragically murdered 17 people and injured 17 others at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida in February 2018, admitted that he ‘broke a lizards back with a rock’ when he was just three years old.
He nonchalantly added of the awful incident, which appeared to be a pastime for him: “It was just something me and my brother did. We went around killing lizards.”
The shooter then went on to provide further details, explaining: “Sometimes I skinned them alive. Sometimes I set them on fire.”
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He was then asked about how he skinned the innocent reptiles, to which he gestured the gruesome act.
The shooter said: “I just took them to a little table and I took a knife and just scraped,” as he performed a hand gesture of the scraping motion.
Cruz then described burning the innocent lizards alive while again motioning a gesture of the awful action.
He said during the psychiatric interview: “Took a lighter – swoosh,” imitating the sound of the animal bursting into flames.
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Cruz said that the lizards would ‘burn instantly’ and ‘they start curling up and then just fall over’ when set alight.
This video was one of several shown in court on Tuesday as Dr Scott testified how he diagnosed the mass shooter with an antisocial personality disorder.
The medical professional explained that an individual can be diagnosed with the disorder if they meet three or more specific criteria out of the seven outlined - Cruz meets six of the seven criteria, he explained to the courtroom.
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Mayo Clinic outlines how antisocial personality disorder, also known as sociopathy, is a mental disorder where the individual consistently shows no regard for right and wrong, ignores the rights and feelings of others and shows no remorse for their actions.
If you see an animal in distress and/or in need of help in the UK, contact the RSPCA's 24-hour animal cruelty line on 0300 1234 999 or visit their website for further advice. In the US, call SPCA on 212-244-SPCA (7722) Monday – Friday 9am-5pm EST or call 9111 if a crime is in progress.