Nikolas Cruz, accused of killing 17 people at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, said in his alleged confession that a voice urged him to “burn, kill, destroy,” according to a newly-released transcript of his interview with police following the Feb. 14 shooting.
According to court documents, the 19-year-old allegedly admitted to carrying out the shooting at the Florida high school, ABC News reports.
Cruz told police that he had heard voices since he witnessed his father die of a heart attack when he was five-years-old, USA Today reports. He said the voices grew stronger when his mother died of pneumonia in November 2017 — just months before the shooting took place.
“I hear demons … a voice, demon voice,” Cruz said, adding that the night before the shooting, the voice had told to hurt people. “The voice is, is in me … To me, it’s me and then my bad side … It’s a voice. The voice is in here and then it’s me, it’s just regular me, just trying to be a good person.”
John Curcio, a Broward Sheriff’s Office detective, asked Cruz why he didn’t seek help.
“You could have stopped the demon by getting a prescription for marijuana. You could have stopped the demon by getting a prescription for Xanax. You could have stopped the demon any time you want. You didn’t want to stop the demon,” Curcio said.
Cruz told the detective he bought his first gun when he was 18-years-old, and collected three shotguns, an AR-15, a handgun and an AK-47, saying he bought the guns to protect himself from the voice, USA Today reports. He said he also kept them locked up so the voice couldn’t get to them.
According the 217-page transcript, Cruz estimated he spent nearly $4,000 on the guns and ammunition. He said his mother had taken him to buy some of the guns.
When asked what his mother thought of him buying all of these guns, he said he told her they were for protection and because they looked “cool.”
At one point during the interview, the detective stepped out of the room, but the recorder still stayed on while Cruz was alone in the room.
Cruz could be heard cursing himself and asking aloud why he wasn’t dead, ABC News reports.
“I want to die. At the end you are nothing but worthless, dude,” Cruz mumbled to himself. “You deserve to die.”
“Kill me,” he muttered to himself at one point.
The transcript also described a meeting between Cruz and his younger brother, Zachary Cruz, but parts of the conversation were redacted.
“People think you’re a monster now,” Cruz’s brother said. “I know you probably felt like you had nobody but I care about you.”
Zachary Cruz added, “I know I make it seem like I didn’t care about you at all. I know I made it seem like when we were growing up that I hated you … but truth is … I love you with all my heart.”
“I’m sorry, dude,” Nikolas Cruz responded.
According to USA Today, the Public Records Unit of the State Attorney’s Office said it would release 13 hours of video footage from the police interviews once it had been redacted.