Nikolas Cruz is responsible for the deadliest high school shooting in US history - but he was spared the death penalty.
During a sickening six-minute attack, Cruz massacred 17 people, including 13 students, at the Stoneman Douglas High School in the Miami suburb of Parkland in 2018.
Today he was sentenced to life in prison without possibility of parole.
The 'gun crazy outcast', who had been expelled from the school for 'disciplinary reasons' the year before, was armed with an AR-15-style rifle, multiple magazines of ammunition, smoke grenades and a gas mask.
In chilling videos recorded on his phone before the horrific shooting, evil Cruz bragged he would try to kill at least 20 people.
"I'm gonna go take Uber in the afternoon before 2:40 (pm)," he boasted.
"From there I'll go into, onto school campus, walk up the stairs, unload my bags and get my AR and shoot people down at the man, what is it? The main courtyard, wait, and people will die."
In the footage, the eventual mass killer held up an assault-style rifle, believed to be the weapon he used to carry out the sickening massacre.
"My name is Nick, and I'm gonna be the next school shooter of 2018," he said in another video.
Speaking directly into the camera, Cruz says "My goal is to kill at least 20 people with an AR-15 and a couple tracer rounds", referring to the assault-style rifle he is seen holding in the footage."
"When you see me on the news, you'll know who I am," he laughed.
Brandishing the rifle, he added: "You're all going to die. Pew, pew-pew, pew, pew, pew, pew. Ah yeah, can't wait."
Cruz, who was 19 at the time, murdered 14 students and three teachers, before dropping his weapon and disgustingly merging with the terrified crowds of people he had been trying to kill.
The police managed to find him after an hour-long search and he was taken into custody alive.
A year ago, the teeanger pled guilty to all charges against him - 17 counts of murder and 17 counts of attempted murder.
After pleading guilty in October 2021, Cruz removed his face mask and apologised to the victims of the shooting saying he is "sorry" and that he has to live with "nightmares" every day.
"I am very sorry for what I did and I have to live with it every day," he said.
Cruz's defence have argued that he suffers from severe mental health issues brought about by fetal alcohol spectrum disorder, caused my his mother's drinking when she was pregnant.
Melisa McNeill, the lead public defender, said: "In a civilized, humane society, do we kill brain-damaged, mentally ill, broken people?"
A 217-page transcript of police interviews revealed Cruz said he heard voices in his head which he claimed told him to buy guns and "burn, kill, destroy".
His fate was decided by a 12-person jury - and family members of the 17 victims packed into the public gallery last month to hear their verdict.
The families gave emotional statements during the trial but were restricted about what they could tell jurors, only being able to describe loved ones and the toll the killing had on their lives.
The jurors were told they couldn't consider the family statements as aggravating factors as they weighed whether Cruz should die.
Many family members wanted him to face the death penalty, so their anger and upset grew as repeated life sentence verdicts were read out.
The jury decided there was no charge in which the aggravating factors have outweighed the mitigating factors - so Cruz was spared the death penalty.
In Florida, a unanimous decision is needed for the death penalty to be issued, so if a single juror disagrees, the defendant will be sentenced to life in prison instead.
During a two-day sentencing hearing, the grandmother of a 14-year-old victim angrily said Cruz should "burn in hell".
Theresa Robinovitz, the gran of Alyssa Alhadeff, told a two-day sentencing she hopes "every breathing moment here on Earth is miserable" for the gunman.
Mrs Robinovitz, along with the families of the other 17 victims', pleaded with the laws to be changed following Florida's State Legislature which requires a jury to unanimously agree on sentencing a person to death.
The gran told Cruz directly: "You should write a book on how you and your defence counsel beat the judicial system and got away with murder.
"I'm too old to see you live out your life sentence, but I hope your every breathing moment here on Earth is miserable and you repent for your sins, Nikolas, and burn in hell."
Debra Hixon, the wife of athletic director Chris Hixon, a Navy veteran who died trying to stop the shooting, was the first to address the killer
She told Cruz: "You stole him from us, and you did not receive the justice that you deserved. There is no mitigating circumstance that will outweigh the heinous and cruel way you stole him from us."
Circuit Court Judge Elizabeth Schere is expected to sentence the 24-year-old to life in prison without parole today.
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