Parkland shooter researched how to ‘pretend to be a psychopath’ before killing spree
A detective’s report suggests that Nikolas Cruz may have been testing “crazy” tactics in the aftermath of the shooting
Parkland shooter Nikolas Cruz reportedly went online before the massacre to research how to “pretend to be a psychopath.
Parkland shooter Nikolas Cruz, who gunned down 17 people at his high school last February, reportedly went online before the massacre to research how to “pretend to be a psychopath,” according to a dailybeast.com report.
“I am neurotypical. How can I pretend to be a psychopath and get diagnosed as one?” the 19-year-old allegedly wrote on question-and-answer website Quora, according to The South Florida Sun-Sentinel.
New details about the case were released in a 425-page detective’s report and suggest Cruz could have been testing some of these “crazy” tactics in the aftermath of the shooting. The report notes that he was calm at times but would flip the script and claim he was suicidal and possessed by a demon.
The report also states that during the shooting, Cruz allegedly brought along a cellphone with images of the location of vital organs so he could more effectively injure targeted victims.
When an officer caught Cruz about an hour after the shooting, he was walking down a residential street and acting “calm and rational” but he then “began to claim he was hearing voices of a demon and began to throw up,” lead Detective John Curcio’s report states. At one point he said: “Where the f— am I?” and “What happened?”
When paramedics took Cruz to the hospital, he claimed he was suicidal. Doctors found no illicit drugs or alcohol in his system and quickly determined there was “nothing medically wrong” with him and released the teen to police.
While alone in an interview room, Cruz reportedly scanned the ceiling and walls for hidden cameras, Curcio wrote, and seemed to be “playing” for the camera as the mimicked shooting himself. He even punched himself repeatedly but “not hard enough to cause any injuries,” the report said.
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When questioned about certain details of his personal life, Cruz claimed he couldn’t remember. And “then in what appears to be an ‘act’ starts to hyperventilate,” Curcio’s report said. When the detective told Cruz that he didn’t believe his “crazy” act, he miraculously regained his memory.
Cruz spoke of a “demon” and sinister voices that told him to “burn, kill and destroy,” but when his brother joined him in the interview room, he was reportedly confused and asked: “What do you mean demons?”
Cruz, who faces the death penalty if convicted of the killings, has pleaded not guilty to the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High, where he shot 34 people, fatally shooting 17 of them.
