Survivor of Parkland school massacre wins extraordinary lawsuit settlement against shooter

A survivor of the Parkland school massacre has won his lawsuit settlement against shooter Nikolas Cruz.

In 2018, Cruz stormed Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, in Florida, with a semi-automatic rifle.

He gunned down 14 students and three teachers, and injured a further 17 - including Anthony Borges.

Borges was only 15 at the time when he was shot five times in the back and legs, with bullets piercing his lungs and abdomen, but the 19-year-old killer didn't shoot him on the ground and instead walked past him.

School shooter Nikolas Cruz pictured during his sentencing in 2022. (Amy Beth Bennett-Pool/Getty Images)

The now 21-year-old lives in chronic pain despite undergoing surgery more than dozen times, and in 2021, he was awarded $1.25 million from the Broward County school district.

He has also received an undisclosed sum from the FBI for failing to prevent the incident from taking place.

In total, the school district has been forced to fork out $25 million to the remaining victims and their families, as per NBC News.

However, it will be the civil settlement that Borges agreed with the now 25-year-old, who is serving consecutive life sentences in prison, that will mean the most to him.

His lawyer Alex Arreaza told the South Florida Sun Sentinel: "[Cruz] signed over any rights to his name.

"The idea now is to shut him out. He will not be the one who decides when or how the story gets told.

"The idea is to keep him from being able to inflict further torture on his victims from jail."

Anthony Borges shows his injuries a year on from the massacre. (EVA MARIE UZCATEGUI/AFP via Getty Images)

The court's decision means that Cruz would have to seek Borges permission if he wanted to enter into any agreement with any author or documentary crew that wished to speak to him.

It also means that Cruz must also turn over any money he might receive as a beneficiary of a relative’s life insurance policy.

But it doesn't end there; as Borges has total control over his name, meaning Cruz must seek Borges permission for news interviews. He must also participate in scientific studies about mass shooters and donate his body to science, Associated Press reports.

Borges, who before his injuries was a promising soccer player, did not attend the meeting but dad Royer did in his absence.

His dad said: "I have mixed feelings when I see his face.

"I don’t feel rage. I remind myself that you have to know and understand his story.

"But I also thought, after what he took from my son, whatever he owns in this world, we should take it from him."