FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — Another defense witness came forward Wednesday to describe the troubled childhood of Parkland gunman Nikolas Cruz, painting him as a hothead who once swung a golf club repeatedly at a motorcycle trailer because he was upset.
Paul Gold, a former neighbor, said Cruz’s tantrums often came with little to no warning. Gold met Cruz, his brother and their mother in 2011, when he moved into their Parkland neighborhood. He told of problems with both boys, describing outbursts from Nikolas and an iPad theft he blamed on his brother, Zachary.
“The first time I met him I knew that this kid was just not right,” Gold told jurors about Nikolas Cruz after taking the stand Wednesday afternoon. “He’d lose his temper. Out of nowhere he’d just snap.”
