When one of Florida school shooter Nikolas Cruz ’s dogs died after eating a poisonous toad, he began a rampage against the amphibians, a former neighbor testified Wednesday, adding that Cruz’s temper was so volatile he never should have been allowed to own a gun or other weapons.
Paul Gold, who lived next door to the Cruz family when the future mass killer was 10 to 12 years old, told jurors he knew Cruz had psychological problems from their first meeting, when neighborhood children visited his home to play with his daughter and stepson. While he that showing them how to play pool, he shot the cue ball into the other balls on the break and the loud bang “freaked out” Cruz.
