Jurors in the penalty trial of Florida school shooter Nikolas Cruz viewed graphic video Tuesday of him murdering 17 people as he stalked through a three-story classroom building at Parkland's Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School four years ago.

The video, compiled from 13 security cameras inside the building, was not shown to the gallery, where parents of many of the victims sat. Prosecutors say it shows Cruz shooting many of his victims at point-blank range, going back to some as they lay wounded on the floor to kill them with a second volley of shots.

The 12 jurors and 10 alternates stared intently at their video screens. Many held hands to their faces as they viewed the 15-minute recording, which has no sound.

Some started squirming. One juror looked at the screen, looked up at Cruz with his eyes wide and then returned to the video.

Cruz looked down while the video played and did not appear to watch it. He sometimes looked up to exchange whispers with one of his attorneys.

The video was played over the objection of Cruz's attorneys, who argued that any evidentiary value it has is outweighed by the emotions it would raise in the jurors. They argued that witness statements of what happened would be sufficient.

Circuit Judge Elizabeth Scherer dismissed the objection, saying a video that accurately reflects Cruz's crimes does not unfairly prejudice his case. Prosecutors are using the video to prove several aggravating factors, including that Cruz acted in a cold, calculated and cruel manner.

Cruz, 23, pleaded guilty in October to 17 counts of first-degree murder, and 17 more counts of attempted murder for those he wounded. The jury must decide if he should be sentenced to death or life without parole for the nation's deadliest mass shooting to go before a jury.

Later on day two of the trial, jurors heard testimony from Christopher McKenna, who was a freshman during the Feb. 14, 2018, shooting. He had left his English class to go to the bathroom and exchanged greetings with two students, Luke Hoyer and Martin Duque, as they crossed paths in the first-floor hallway. McKenna then entered a stairwell and encountered Cruz assembling his AR-15 semiautomatic rifle.

"He said get out of here. Things are about to get bad," McKenna recalled.

McKenna sprinted out to the parking lot as Cruz went into the hallway and began shooting. McKenna alerted Aaron Feis, an assistant football coach who doubled as a security guard. Feis drove McKenna in his golf cart to an adjacent building for safety, and then went to the three-story building McKenna fled from.

By then, the sounds of gunfire were already ringing out across the campus. Feis went in and was fatally shot immediately by Cruz, who had already killed Hoyer, 15, and Duque, 14, and eight others. Cruz then continued through the second floor, where he fired into classrooms but hit no one. When he reached the third-floor, he killed six more.

The jurors also heard testimony from English teacher Dara Hass, who had three students killed and several wounded in her classroom when Cruz fired through a window in the door.

"The sound was so loud. The students were screaming," said Hass, who wept and dabbed her eyes with tissue as she testified. She thought it might be a drill, but then she spotted the body of 14-year-old Alex Schachter, who had been fatally shot at his desk.

"That's when I saw it wasn't a drill," she said. Two 14-year-old girls also died in the classroom: Alaina Petty and Alyssa Alhadeff.

When police arrived and evacuated her students, Hass said she did not want to leave but officers convinced her.

"I wanted to stay with the students who couldn't go," she said, referring to Schachter, Petty and Alhadeff.

One student in her class, Alexander Dworet, said he originally thought the loud bangs were the school's marching band, but then he felt a "hot sensation" on the back of his head where he had been grazed by a bullet and "I realized I was in danger."

Dworet's 17-year-old brother, Nick, was across the hall in his Holocaust studies class. Cruz fired into that classroom, too, killing him.

---

Jury selection

The jurors currently on the main panel are two banking executives and two technology workers, a probation officer, a human resources professional and a Walmart store stock supervisor. Also included are a librarian, a medical claims adjuster, a legal assistant, a customs officer and a retired insurance executive.

The jury selection was filled with setbacks and possible mistrials over the questioning of possible jurors and COVID-19 cases on the defense.

The defense asked to delay the trial because of the recent school shooting in Uvalde, Texas, that left 21 dead. McNeill’s team argued that the shooting has again raised emotions in Broward County and makes it impossible for Cruz to get a fair trial currently.

Many of the possible jurors were not able to hold seat because of the time commitment for the lengthy process.

Full Recap: Jury sworn in to sentencing trial for Parkland high school shooter

Pleading guilty to all charges

Cruz pleaded guilty in October 2021 to 17 counts of murder and 17 counts of attempted murder in the deadly shooting.

Legal analysts said Cruz’s plan to plead guilty to all charges in the Parkland shooting — along with the guilty plea in a battery on a jail guard charge — is a calculated move by his attorneys for him to avoid the death penalty.

Video below: Cruz pleads guilty in court

By pleading guilty to killing 17 people and attempting to kill 17 more in 2018, legal experts said Cruz is hoping to convince the jury that he is taking some responsibility for his actions.

"He’s trying to save his life, and the only way to do that is to take responsibility and not put all these poor people through a trial," criminal defense attorney Marc Shiner said.

Death penalty trials in Florida and much of the country often take two years to start because of their complexity, but Cruz's was further delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic and extensive legal wrangling.

If Cruz is sentenced to death, that will still not be the end of the process. Death sentences in Florida are given automatic priority review by the Florida Supreme Court.

Trial preparations

Trial preparations were extensive for what was expected to be the biggest murder trial in Broward County history for one of the most infamous crimes in Florida history.

Cruz was arrested about an hour after the attack with an AR-15 semiautomatic rifle on Valentine's Day 2018.

Video below: Body camera of arrest of Nikolas Cruz released

His lawyers repeatedly offered to plead guilty in return for a guaranteed sentence of life in prison, but prosecutors refused to drop their pursuit of the death penalty.

Video below: Cruz interrogation video released

Much of the penalty phase is expected to focus on Cruz’s mental condition at the time of the slayings, with prosecutors emphasizing their horrific nature and Cruz’s intensive planning beforehand.

Victims of the Parkland school shooting

Seventeen students and staff were killed at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School on Feb. 14, 2018. Seventeen others were injured.

Can't see the graphic? Click here.

Settlement with Broward School District

The Broward County School District will pay more than $26 million to the families of the victims.

Board members approved the two legal settlements on in December 2021.

A total of $25 million will be shared by 51 plaintiffs, including families of the 17 dead as well as students and staff who were injured. Another $1.25 million will be paid in one lump sum to Anthony Borges, who suffered some of the most severe injuries.

Video below: Nikolas Cruz outlines shooting plan in video recording

Four years after shooting

For many families, they said there will never be closure for the loss of their loved ones.

Students and families turned into activists.

'I still can't believe this is my reality': Parkland parent creates way to track school violence after son is killed in school shooting

Jim Gard, a math teacher that day, said they were all victims.

"These kids that were in the class, just because they weren't hit doesn't mean they weren’t hit," he said.

And since that day, so many of those victims have refused to just sit back and do nothing. In the days following the shooting, a movement called March For Our Lives was born.

David Hogg was one of the founders.

"When we started doing the march, we thought there would be about 90 people that we could get up to D.C.," Hogg said. "We got near a million."

Video below: Father of Parkland victim hangs banner in view of White House four years after shooting

Four years later, March For Our Lives is still going strong with chapters across the country.

They’ve helped pass state laws designed to keep guns away from violent offenders. They’ve worked to get more federal funding to control gun violence.

'I have to accomplish her dream': Hunter Pollack changes career path after sister is murdered in Parkland massacre

It's become a full-time job nobody wants.

"We want our job to be done so we can go back to being college students or high school students and young people and young professionals," Hogg said.

When they watched the Parkland shooter plead guilty to the murders he committed, both Hogg and Gard are pleased to see this chapter end.

Video below: School safety changes made following Parkland school shooting

They just ask you not to call it closure.

"It's the parents of the kids, the parents who lost their children, I don’t know if there can ever be closure on that," Gard said. "I know for a lot of the people that I talked to, families that I talked to, there is not closure that can come. There’s nothing that will ever bring their kids back, their siblings back, their best friends back."

If you or someone you know needs help with mental health, call 211 or the National Suicide Hotline at 988.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — The jury heard more emotional testimony Tuesday as the sentencing trial for convicted Parkland school shooter Nikolas Cruz continues.

Former students at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shared their gripping and heartbreaking accounts of what happened the day 17 people were killed and 17 others were injured on Feb. 14, 2018.

The trial finally began Monday in a Broward County courtroom and is expected to last four months.

Christopher McKenna, a freshman at the school at the time, took the stand and told the jury that he left his English class to go to the bathroom that day.

He said he gave a high-five to two of his fellow students, Luke Hoyer and Martin Duque, as they crossed paths in the first-floor hallway.

McKenna then described seeing Cruz in a stairwell armed with a rifle.

"Get out of here. Things are about to get bad," McKenna testified that Cruz told him.

Cruz would fatally shoot Hoyer and Duque.

McKenna stood up in court and identified Cruz as the person he saw that day in the stairwell, pointing at him in court.

(Mike Stocker/South Florida Sun Sentinel via AP, Pool)

Alexander Dworet took the stand and said he heard "loud bangs" and the end of his English class but thought it might be the school's marching band.

Dworet said he recalled feeling a hot sensation on the back of his head and said he knew he was in danger.

"I remember feeling trickling down the back of my head and onto my chest," Dworet said. "I touched the back of my head, and then my hand was all bloody.”

Dworet then described watching his classmate, Alex Schachter, take his final breaths.

His brother, Nicholas Dworet, was also shot and killed in the rampage.

(Mike Stocker/South Florida Sun Sentinel via AP, Pool)

WATCH LIVE: Day 2 of Parkland shooter's sentencing trial

A tearful Dara Hass took the stand and described hearing the gunshots tear into her classroom on that day while she was teaching English, killing some of her students and injuring others.

She testified that at first, she thought the shots were a drill but said her students were screaming and shouting.

She later saw one of her students, Schachter, was injured and knew it wasn't a drill, later calling 911.

"It was hazy, and you could smell the sulfur from the gun," Hass said. "Debris was flying across the room. The students were crying; so many students had been injured."

E.W. Scripps

Hass recalled seeing two of her other students, Alania Petty and Alyssa Alhadeff, very injured in her classroom, both of whom later died from their injuries.

When police arrived and evacuated her students, Hass said she did not want to leave but officers convinced her.

"I wanted to stay with the students who couldn't go," she said.

Samantha Fuentes, a former student at the school, recalled being in her Holocaust studies classroom when the shooting started.

She described sitting near the classroom's front door and hearing a couple of shots from the hallway, which prompted everyone to freeze.

Fuentes said more shots were fired, which pierced a window of the classroom. She recalled how she and her classmates went to the back of the room as more shots continued to enter the room. That's when she described seeing the gunman.

E.W. Scripps

"Unknowingly, I peeked my head past the podium to look at the door. That is where I saw Cruz standing there after he had finished firing," Fuentes said. "He was standing at the window at the door."

She then saw that two of her classmates were shot dead, identified as Nicholas Dworet and Helena Ramsay.

Fuentes then noticed that she had also been shot and had holes in her pants with blood running from the top of her forehead down to her chest and in her eyes and hair.

Fuentes suffered a gunshot wound just above her left knee and had other shrapnel injuries. Fuentes said she hasn't fully recovered from her wounds and still has pain from shrapnel still lodged throughout her body.

Throughout much of Tuesday, Cruz barely looked up, often spotted with his head in his hand looking down.

Day 1 Testimony

Jurors on Monday heard heart-wrenching testimony from a student and teacher from the high school who remembered the violence that unfolded on Valentine's Day four years ago.

Witness Danielle Gilbert cringed and shed tears on the witness stand. She was a junior at the Parkland school when the shooting occurred.

Cellphone video clips that Gilbert recorded inside the classroom were shown to the jury. Audio included multiple gunshots as a fire alarm sounded.

E.W. Scripps

"We were sitting like sitting ducks," Gilbert said. "We had no way to defend ourselves."

Her story was similar to Brittany Sinitch, a teacher who took the stand and recalled the exact moment when a Valentine’s Day project with her students turned to darkness.

"We were having so much fun until I heard what I described as the loudest noise you could possibly imagine," Sinitch said.

She recalled that she quickly shielded her students from danger. Her frantic call to 911 was inaudible because the gunshots were so loud.

Carline Jean/South Florida Sun Sentinel via AP, Pool

Families of the victims who were in court became overwhelmed hearing the testimony and video that was played in court.

Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty, calling Cruz's actions cold and calculated.

Lead prosecutor Mike Satz highlighted a video that Cruz recorded days before the shooting.

(Carline Jean/South Florida Sun Sentinel via AP, Pool)

"This is what the defendant said: 'Hello, my name is Nik. I'm going to be the next school shooter of 2018. My goal is at least 20 people with an AR-15 and some tracer rounds. It's going to be a big event, and when you see me on the news, you'll know who I am. You're all going to die. Ah yeah, I can't wait,'" Satz said.

Defense attorneys plan to deliver opening statements when they present their case in the coming weeks.

This article was written by WPTV.'

Florida school shooter Nikolas Cruz walked casually into a sandwich shop minutes after he murdered 14 students and three staff members at Parkland's Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School four years ago, showing no signs of stress or nervousness, video played at his penalty trial Thursday showed.

Cruz then walked to a nearby McDonald's, where, by coincidence, he unsuccessfully sought a ride from the brother of a girl he had seriously wounded. The boy did not know who Cruz was.

Thursday's abbreviated court session focused on Cruz's attempted escape after the Feb. 14, 2018, shooting and his arrest, about an hour after he fled the campus. The mostly low-key testimony and evidence stood in contrast with the previous three emotional days, which covered the seven minutes Cruz stalked a three-story classroom building firing his AR-15 semi-automatic rifle into crowded classrooms and hallways.

After the shooting, Cruz fled the building, dressed in a burgundy shirt from the Stoneman Douglas Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps — he had been a member when he attended the school — and a New York City Police Department cap.

The former Stoneman Douglas student blended in with students who were evacuating campus and went to a nearby Walmart, where security video shows that 25 minutes after he stopped shooting, he turned into the Subway sandwich shop inside the entrance.

Store manager Carlos Rugeles testified that Cruz ordered a cherry and blue raspberry Icee. The video shows that when Cruz got his drink and change, he tossed the coins into the tip jar, stuck a straw into the lid and walked out.

Eight minutes later, Cruz entered a nearby McDonald's, still drinking his Icee, store video shows. He climbed into a booth with then-Stoneman Douglas freshman John Wilford, who did not know him.

Wilford testified that he didn't know exactly what had happened at the school, but after evacuating, he had been trying to call his older sister Maddy — he didn't know she had been seriously wounded by this stranger. When he couldn't reach her, he called his mom, who said she would pick him up.

He then tried to make small talk with Cruz.

"I told him, 'This is so chaotic, it's crazy with all these helicopters and squad cars. What do you think this could be?'" Wilford recalled. "He didn't say much. He had his head down."

A minute later, Wilford went to meet his mother in the parking lot. Cruz followed and asked for a ride, but Wilford said no.

"He was pretty insistent on it. I wasn't really thinking much of it. I just wanted to get home and my sister wasn't answering her phone," Wilford said.

Cruz walked away. He was arrested about a half-hour later by Michael Leonard, an officer with the neighboring Coconut Creek Police Department. Leonard testified he was driving through neighborhoods looking for anyone matching the shooter's description.

The officer was 3 miles from the school and about to drive back toward it when he spotted Cruz walking on a residential street. He said he stopped and Cruz looked at him. He pulled his gun and ordered Cruz to the ground. Cruz complied.

A search found $350 in Cruz's pocket.

Cruz, 23, pleaded guilty in October to 17 counts of first-degree murder. The jury must only decide if he should be sentenced to death or life without parole for the nation's deadliest mass shooting to go before a jury.

Nine other gunmen who killed at least 17 people died during or immediately after their shootings, either by suicide or police gunfire. The suspect in the 2019 slaying of 23 people at a Walmart in El Paso, Texas, is awaiting trial.

When jurors eventually get the case, probably in October or November, they will vote 17 times, once for each of the victims, on whether to recommend capital punishment.

For each death sentence, the jury must be unanimous or the sentence for that victim is life. The jurors are told that to vote for death, the prosecution's aggravating circumstances for that victim must, in their judgment, "outweigh" the defense's mitigators. A juror can also vote for life out of mercy for Cruz. During jury selection, the panelists said under oath that they are capable of voting for either sentence.

---

Jury selection

The jurors currently on the main panel are two banking executives and two technology workers, a probation officer, a human resources professional and a Walmart store stock supervisor. Also included are a librarian, a medical claims adjuster, a legal assistant, a customs officer and a retired insurance executive.

The jury selection was filled with setbacks and possible mistrials over the questioning of possible jurors and COVID-19 cases on the defense.

The defense asked to delay the trial because of the recent school shooting in Uvalde, Texas, that left 21 dead. McNeill’s team argued that the shooting has again raised emotions in Broward County and makes it impossible for Cruz to get a fair trial currently.

Many of the possible jurors were not able to hold seat because of the time commitment for the lengthy process.

Full Recap: Jury sworn in to sentencing trial for Parkland high school shooter

Pleading guilty to all charges

Cruz pleaded guilty in October 2021 to 17 counts of murder and 17 counts of attempted murder in the deadly shooting.

Legal analysts said Cruz’s plan to plead guilty to all charges in the Parkland shooting — along with the guilty plea in a battery on a jail guard charge — is a calculated move by his attorneys for him to avoid the death penalty.

Video below: Cruz pleads guilty in court

By pleading guilty to killing 17 people and attempting to kill 17 more in 2018, legal experts said Cruz is hoping to convince the jury that he is taking some responsibility for his actions.

"He’s trying to save his life, and the only way to do that is to take responsibility and not put all these poor people through a trial," criminal defense attorney Marc Shiner said.

Death penalty trials in Florida and much of the country often take two years to start because of their complexity, but Cruz's was further delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic and extensive legal wrangling.

If Cruz is sentenced to death, that will still not be the end of the process. Death sentences in Florida are given automatic priority review by the Florida Supreme Court.

Trial preparations

Trial preparations were extensive for what was expected to be the biggest murder trial in Broward County history for one of the most infamous crimes in Florida history.

Cruz was arrested about an hour after the attack with an AR-15 semiautomatic rifle on Valentine's Day 2018.

Video below: Body camera of arrest of Nikolas Cruz released

His lawyers repeatedly offered to plead guilty in return for a guaranteed sentence of life in prison, but prosecutors refused to drop their pursuit of the death penalty.

Video below: Cruz interrogation video released

Much of the penalty phase is expected to focus on Cruz’s mental condition at the time of the slayings, with prosecutors emphasizing their horrific nature and Cruz’s intensive planning beforehand.

Victims of the Parkland school shooting

Seventeen students and staff were killed at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School on Feb. 14, 2018. Seventeen others were injured.

Can't see the graphic? Click here.

Settlement with Broward School District

The Broward County School District will pay more than $26 million to the families of the victims.

Board members approved the two legal settlements on in December 2021.

A total of $25 million will be shared by 51 plaintiffs, including families of the 17 dead as well as students and staff who were injured. Another $1.25 million will be paid in one lump sum to Anthony Borges, who suffered some of the most severe injuries.

Video below: Nikolas Cruz outlines shooting plan in video recording

Four years after shooting

For many families, they said there will never be closure for the loss of their loved ones.

Students and families turned into activists.

'I still can't believe this is my reality': Parkland parent creates way to track school violence after son is killed in school shooting

Jim Gard, a math teacher that day, said they were all victims.

"These kids that were in the class, just because they weren't hit doesn't mean they weren’t hit," he said.

And since that day, so many of those victims have refused to just sit back and do nothing. In the days following the shooting, a movement called March For Our Lives was born.

David Hogg was one of the founders.

"When we started doing the march, we thought there would be about 90 people that we could get up to D.C.," Hogg said. "We got near a million."

Video below: Father of Parkland victim hangs banner in view of White House four years after shooting

Four years later, March For Our Lives is still going strong with chapters across the country.

They’ve helped pass state laws designed to keep guns away from violent offenders. They’ve worked to get more federal funding to control gun violence.

'I have to accomplish her dream': Hunter Pollack changes career path after sister is murdered in Parkland massacre

It's become a full-time job nobody wants.

"We want our job to be done so we can go back to being college students or high school students and young people and young professionals," Hogg said.

When they watched the Parkland shooter plead guilty to the murders he committed, both Hogg and Gard are pleased to see this chapter end.

Video below: School safety changes made following Parkland school shooting

They just ask you not to call it closure.

"It's the parents of the kids, the parents who lost their children, I don’t know if there can ever be closure on that," Gard said. "I know for a lot of the people that I talked to, families that I talked to, there is not closure that can come. There’s nothing that will ever bring their kids back, their siblings back, their best friends back."

If you or someone you know needs help with mental health, call 211 or the National Suicide Hotline at 988.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Jurors in the trial of Florida school shooter Nikolas Cruz prepared to walk through the still blood-spattered rooms of a three-story building at Parkland's Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School on Thursday, visiting the scene where he murdered 14 students and three staff members four years ago.

The seven-man, five-woman jury and 10 alternates will be bused under heavy security the 30 miles (48 kilometers) from the Broward County Courthouse in downtown Fort Lauderdale to the suburban school, where classes don't resume until later this month. Law enforcement plans to seal off the area around the campus and aircraft may be barred from flying overhead to prevent protesters from interrupting the proceedings and to protect the jurors' safety.

The panelists and their law enforcement escorts will be accompanied into the building by Circuit Judge Elizabeth Scherer, prosecutors and Cruz's attorneys. Cruz will not be present, according to one of his attorneys.

Prosecutors, who are winding up their case, are hoping the visit will help prove that the former Stoneman Douglas student's actions were cold, calculated, heinous and cruel; created a great risk of death to many people and “interfered with a government function” — all aggravating factors under Florida's capital punishment law.

Under Florida court rules, neither the judge nor the attorneys are allowed to speak to the jurors — and the jurors aren't allowed to converse with each other — when they retrace the path Cruz followed on Feb. 14, 2018, as he methodically moved from floor to floor, firing down hallways and into classrooms as he went. The jurors have already seen surveillance video of the shooting and photographs of its aftermath.

Journalists will not be allowed inside until after the jurors leave, and will not be allowed to carry cameras.

The building has been sealed and surrounded by a chain-link fence since shortly after the massacre. Known both as the freshman and 1200 building, it looms ominously over the school and its teachers, staff and 3,300 students, and can be seen easily by anyone nearby. The Broward County school district plans to demolish it whenever the prosecutors approve. For now, it is a court exhibit.

“When you are driving past, it's there. When you are going to class, it's there. It is just a colossal structure that you can't miss," said Kai Koerber, who was a Stoneman Douglas junior at the time of the shooting. He is now at the University of California, Berkeley, and the developer of a mental health phone app. “It is just a constant reminder ... that is tremendously trying and horrible."

Cruz, 23, pleaded guilty in October to 17 counts of first-degree murder; the trial is only to determine if he is sentenced to death or life without parole.

The building's interior has been left nearly intact since the shooting: Bloodstains still smear the floor, and doors and walls are riddled with bullet holes. Windows in classroom doors are shot out. Rotted Valentine's Day flowers, deflated balloons and other gifts are strewn about. Only the bodies and personal belongings such as backpacks have been removed.

Miami defense attorney David S. Weinstein said prosecutors are hoping the visit will be “the final piece in erasing any doubt that any juror might have had that the death penalty is the only recommendation that can be made.”

Such site visits are rare. Weinstein, a former prosecutor, said in more than 150 jury trials dating back to the late 1980s, he has only had one.

One reason for their rarity is that they are a logistical nightmare for the judge, who needs to get the jury to the location and back to the courthouse without incident or risk a mistrial. And in a typical case, a visit wouldn't even present truthful evidence: After law enforcement leaves, the building or public space returns to its normal use. The scene gets cleaned up, objects get moved and repairs are made. It's why judges order jurors in many trials not to visit the scene on their own.

Craig Trocino, a University of Miami law professor who has represented defendants appealing their death sentences, said the visit — combined with the myriad graphic videos and photos jurors have already seen — could open an avenue for Cruz's attorneys if they find themselves in the same situation.

"At some point evidence becomes inflammatory and prejudicial," he said. “The site visit may be a cumulative capstone.”

Cruz’s attorneys have argued that prosecutors have used evidence not just to prove their case, but to inflame the jurors’ passions.

Prosecutors are expected to rest their case shortly after the visit.

On Feb. 14, 2018, 17 students and staff were killed at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.

They included a football coach, an athletic director, and young, eager, and forward-looking students.

Video above: Victims' families give emotional testimony in the sentencing trial of Parkland school shooter

It's now been more than four years since the shooting, and people are taking a moment to remember the lives of those lost and what's happened since.

For many families, they said there will never be closure for the loss of their loved ones.

These are the victims:

Can't see the visual? Click here.

Alyssa Alhadeff, 14

Alyssa, 14, was a student at Stoneman Douglas and a soccer player for Parkland Travel Soccer.

Lori Alhadeff, Alyssa's mother, told HLN she dropped her daughter off at school that Wednesday and said, "I love you." When the mother heard about the shooting, she hustled to school but was too late.

"I knew at that point she was gone. I felt it in my heart," she said. "Alyssa was a beautiful, smart, talented, successful, awesome, amazing soccer player. You'll be greatly missed, Alyssa. We love you so much. You'll always, always be in our hearts."

"Alyssa Alhadeff was a loved and well-respected member of our club and community," Parkland Travel Soccer said on Facebook. "Alyssa will be greatly missed."

Alyssa also attended Camp Coleman, a Jewish sleepaway summer camp.

"On behalf of the entire Coleman community, we offer heartfelt condolences and prayers for comfort to Alyssa's family and friends. May Alyssa's memory forever be for a blessing," the camp said on Facebook.

Scott Beigel, 35

Beigel, a geography teacher, was killed as he tried to usher students back into his classroom when the shooting broke out.

Kelsey Friend, one of Beigel's students, told CNN in an emotional interview that he was shot outside the classroom door and that he saved her life.

"Mr. Beigel was my hero and he still will forever be my hero. I will never forget the actions that he took for me and for fellow students in the classroom," she said. "I am alive today because of him."

Kelsey said the teacher was an amazing person and his memory would live on with her.

"If I could see him right now ... I'd give him a huge teddy bear to say thank you. But unfortunately, I can't do that," she said.

Beigel, 35, was also a counselor at Camp Starlight in Pennsylvania, which called him a "friend and hero" on Facebook.

Martin Duque Anguiano, 14

Miguel Duque mourned the loss of his younger brother, Martin, and set up a Go Fund Me page to help pay for funeral expenses.

"He was a very funny kid, outgoing, and sometimes really quiet. He was sweet and caring and loved by all his family. Most of all he was my baby brother," Miguel said on the page.

"My family and I have no words to describe the event that's has happened on this date, all my prayers to the lost ones. My family and I will appreciate anything that we can get helped with. R.I.P Martin Duque."

Nicholas Dworet, 17

Nicholas, a 17-year-old senior, was killed in the shooting, the University of Indianapolis confirmed. He was recruited for the university swim team and would have been an incoming freshman that fall.

"Nick's death is a reminder that we are connected to the larger world, and when tragedy hits in places around the world, it oftentimes affects us at home," said Robert L. Manuel, University of Indianapolis president.

"Today, and in the coming days, I hope you will hold Nick, his family, all of the victims, as well as the Parkland community and first responders in your prayers."

Aaron Feis, 37

Feis, an assistant football coach, was killed when he threw himself in front of students to protect them from oncoming bullets, according to football program spokeswoman Denis Lehtio. Feis, 37, suffered a gunshot wound and died after he was rushed into surgery, Lehtio said.

"He died the same way he lived -- he put himself second," she said. "He was a very kind soul, a very nice man. He died a hero."

Colton Haab, a 17-year-old junior who had a close relationship with Feis, told CNN he saw the coach running toward the sounds of gunshots.

"That's Coach Feis. He wants to make sure everybody is safe before himself," he said.

"(He) made sure everyone else's needs were met before his own. He was a hard worker. He worked after school, on the weekends, mowing lawns, just helping as many people as possible."

Chad Lyons, a student and football player, said Feis was there for him when he was going through leukemia treatments.

"He guided me through them. He would send me prayers. He would send me Bible scripts and just stuff to cheer up my day. Funny memes," the player said.

"He was just an amazing person to be led on and taught by, and I'm thankful enough to even be in his presence, just going through high school."

Jaime Guttenberg, 14

Jaime, 14, was among the victims, according to a Facebook post by her father, Fred.

"My heart is broken. Yesterday, Jennifer Bloom Guttenberg and I lost our baby girl to a violent shooting at her school. We lost our daughter and my son Jesse Guttenberg lost his sister.

"I am broken as I write this trying to figure out how my family gets through this. We appreciate all of the calls and messages and we apologize for not reacting to everyone individually," he added. "Hugs to all and hold your children tight."

Skidmore College, where Fred Guttenberg attended, released a statement saying their hearts go out to Jaime's parents and others affected by the tragedy.

"There really are no words to lessen the suffering that the families of victims are feeling at this moment, but perhaps knowing that we stand with them can provide some small measure of solace," the college said.

Chris Hixon, 49

His widow, Debra, was telling CNN that he was "probably the best man that I ... " when she couldn't go on.

She had just described Chris Hixon -- who was the school's athletic director -- as an awesome husband, father and American.

"Every one of those students he thought of as his own kid," she said earlier.

Hixon, 49 would give students rides or lunch money and, if they needed it, open up his home to them. "He just loved being around kids and giving back to the community," Debra Hixon said.

A Naval reservist, Chris Hixon deployed to Iraq in 2007.

"He loved being an American and serving his country and he instilled that in our kids," she said.

Hixon was also the school's wrestling coach, something that was his passion.

Luke Hoyer, 15

The killing shocked Luke's close-knit family.

Grandparents Eddie and Janice Stroud in Simpsonville, South Carolina, learned about the news of the shooting from TV reports, they told sister station WYFF in Greenville.

"The day went by and we didn't hear anything about Luke. We kept hoping they would find him wandering around in shock," Janice Stroud told the station.

"By 7 o'clock, I said, 'I don't like this. This is not good,' " her husband said, according to WYFF. "Finally, (police) called us at 1 a.m. and said Luke was among the students that had been killed."

Janice Stroud said, "He was a good kid. He ... never got in trouble. He was the last of my daughter's children who still lived at home."

Cousin Grant Cox called Luke "an amazing individual. Always happy, always smiling. His smile was contagious, and so was his laugh.

Another relative, Mary Beth Stroud-Gibbs, posted on Facebook that the family is "very close" and is "devastated by this senseless shooting."

"Our Luke was a precious child."

Cara Loughran, 14

Cara danced at the Drake School of Irish Dance in South Florida.

"Cara was a beautiful soul and always had a smile on her face," the dance studio said in a statement. "We are heartbroken as we send our love and support to her family during this horrible time."

Danny Vogel, a neighbor, posted condolences on Facebook.

"It is with a heavy heart and much regret that I write these words. Our next-door neighbor's daughter was one of the lives taken (too) soon by a senseless act of violence at Stoneman Douglas High School.

"RIP Cara, and fly with the angels. You will be greatly missed, and we will always love you and celebrate your beautiful life."

Gina Montalto, 14

Gina was a member of the winter guard on the school's marching band.

The Winter Guard International mourned her death Thursday, saying, "Unfortunately, one of the victims in yesterday's St. Valentine's Day Massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School was a member of the school's winter guard.

"No student should ever go to school afraid," the group said.

One of her middle school color guard instructors told The Miami Herald that Gina "was the sweetest soul ever."

"My heart is broken into pieces. I will forever remember you, my sweet angel," Manuel Miranda told the paper.

Shawn Sherlock, Gina's aunt, posted a tribute on Facebook, describing her niece as a gifted artist.

"I know somewhere in the heavens she's designing the latest and greatest trends and has her art book she always carried with her as well," she wrote.

Joaquin Oliver, 17

Joaquin was born in Venezuela, moved to the United States when he was 3 and became a naturalized citizen in January 2017, the Sun-Sentinel reported.

"Among friends at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, he was known as 'Guac,' a moniker that appeared on his Instagram account. His interests: football, basketball, the Venezuelan national soccer team, urban graffiti and hip-hop," the paper said.

An Instagram post dated December 31 was his final social media post -- a message to his girlfriend, the paper said.

"Thank you lord for putting a greater blessing than I could ever imagine into my life this past year," he said. "I love you with all my heart."

Alaina Petty, 14

Alaina's family said she was vibrant and determined. She had volunteered after Hurricane Irma hit Florida in September 2017.

"Alaina loved to serve," the statement from her family said.

She was also a part of the "Helping Hands" program of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

"While we will not have the opportunity to watch her grow up and become the amazing woman we know she would become, we are keeping an eternal perspective," her family said.

Alaina, 14, was also a member of the junior ROTC at her school, a leadership program taught by retired Army personnel.

Meadow Pollack, 18

Meadow, 18, had been accepted at Lynn University in Boca Raton, spokeswoman Jamie D'Aria said.

"Meadow was a lovely young woman, who was full of energy. We were very much looking forward to having her join our community in the fall," D'Aria said.

Condolences were posted on an online guestbook kept by Star of David Memorial Gardens Cemetery and Funeral Chapel.

"Please accept my deepest condolences on the loss of your beautiful daughter, Meadow. May she rest in peace. Your family is in my continued prayers," said Alisa Thomas of Youngstown, Ohio.

Friend GII Lovito said on Facebook: "Please say a prayer for the family of an amazing girl I got to call my best friend growing up Meadow Pollack ... her life was taken way too soon and I have no words to describe how this feels. Rest In Peace my beautiful angel.

"You are and forever will be loved."

Helena Ramsay, 17

"My family lost an absolutely beautiful member today, due to a senseless school shooting," Curtis Page Jr. said in a Facebook post about Helena, who would have started college the next year.

"Helena was a smart, kind-hearted, and thoughtful person. She was deeply loved and loved others even more so. Though she was somewhat reserved, she had a relentless motivation towards her academic studies, and her soft warm demeanor brought the best out in all who knew her. She was so brilliant and witty, and I'm still wrestling with the idea that she is actually gone."

Page said he hopes others can be inspired by Helena's "life well lived, no matter how short."

Fena Cooper, identifying herself as a cousin, said in a Facebook posting, "Valentine's Day will never look the same for my family.

"Helena, we miss you dearly and are so incredibly sorry that your life was cut short. You didn't deserve this. We love you so much and will miss you greatly."

Alex Schachter, 14

Alex participated in the school marching band and orchestra, playing baritone in the former and trombone in the latter, the Sun-Sentinel reported.

"I felt he really had a bright future on the trombone," Alexander Kaminsky, director of bands at the Parkland high school, told the paper.

A Go Fund Me page was set up by Alex's family as a scholarship fund.

"In an effort to continue his memory, this scholarship is being created to help other students experience the joys of music as well as fund increased security at schools. Please help keep Alex's spirit alive," the page said. "The money raised will be sent to the Stoneman Douglas Marching Eagles."

Carmen Schentrup, 16

Carmen was a National Merit Scholar semifinalist.

"Marjory Stoneman Douglas had 10 students qualify as semifinalists for 2018, which is the second year in a row 10 students have qualified," the Eagle Eye student blog said.

Carmen was mourned in the community and on social media.

"Rest In Peace Carmen Schentrup," one tweet said. "Your family is forever in my thoughts and prayers. I'm so sorry."

Peter Wang, 15

Peter had been a member of the junior ROTC program, and his parents owned a restaurant in West Palm Beach, the Sun-Sentinel reported.

Kelsey Friend, who shared a culinary class with Peter, said she "started screaming and crying" when she found out about her friend's death by looking at images on Google of those who had died.

Kelsey said Peter had been excited about the Chinese New Year, which fell on Friday.

"Me and my family celebrated it for him, eating Chinese," she said.

Kelsey said the two of them were close.

"It's hard to not have him in the hallways anymore because me and him used to laugh with each other. He used to make me smile. And now he's gone."

Kelsey and other friends said Peter was shot while holding a door open to let fellow classmates get to safety. Thousands of people have signed a White House petition asking for him to be buried with military honors.

"His selfless and heroic actions have led to the survival of dozens in the area," the petition says.

Jesse Pan, a real estate agent in Parkland, posted images of the boy on Facebook, including a couple of him wearing his ROTC uniform.

"Rest in Peace Peter!!!" he said.

PARKLAND, Fla. —

It's been four years since 17 students and staff were killed at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, on Feb. 14, 2018.

Seventeen others were injured.

The gunman, Nikolas Cruz, assembled his AR-15 rifle in the stairwell and opened fire in the "freshman building."

"Be advised we have possible, could be firecrackers. I think we got shots fired. Possible shots fired, 1200 building," could be heard on the radio communications.

Cruz eventually dropped the gun and fled by blending in with the other students as police stormed the building. He was captured an hour later walking through a neighborhood.

Shortly after he was arrested, he confessed and said the voices in his head told him to do it.

The FBI came forward in the days after the shooting, saying they had received tips about Cruz.

Video below: Cruz interrogation video released

In the fall of 2021, the shooter pleaded guilty to all charges connected to the school shooting. Prosecutors now plan to seek the death penalty.

For many families, they said there will never be closure for the loss of their loved ones.

Students and families turned into activists.

Jim Gard, a math teacher that day, said they were all victims.

“These kids that were in the class, just because they weren’t hit doesn’t mean they weren’t hit,” he said.

And since that day, so many of those victims have refused to just sit back and do nothing. In the days following the shooting, a movement called March For Our Lives was born.

David Hogg was one of the founders.

“When we started doing the march, we thought there would be about 90 people that we could get up to DC,” Hogg said. “We got near a million.”

Four years later, March For Our Lives is still going strong with chapters across the country.

They’ve helped pass state laws designed to keep guns away from violent offenders. They’ve worked to get more federal funding to control gun violence.

Video below: March For Our Lives in Washington, D.C.

It’s become a full-time job nobody wants.

“We want our job to be done so we can go back to being college students or high school students and young people and young professionals,” Hogg said.

When they watched the Parkland shooter plead guilty to the murders he committed, both Hogg and Gard were pleased to see this chapter end.

Video below: Cruz pleads guilty in court

They just ask you not to call it closure.

“It’s the parents of the kids, the parents who lost their children, I don’t know if there can ever be closure on that,” Gard said. “I know for a lot of the people that I talked to, families that I talked to, there is not closure that can come. There’s nothing that will ever bring their kids back, their siblings back, their best friends back.”

Video below: Cruz makes statement to court, families

The Broward County School District announced in Dec. 2021 that it will pay more than $26 million to the families of the victims.

"While we recognize no amount of money can make these families whole, it is the school board's hope that this settlement will show our heartfelt commitment to the MSD families, students, staff, faculty and to the entire Broward County community," said Marylin Batista, the board's interim general counsel.

President Joe Biden released a statement Monday morning, saying in part:

"On this difficult day, we mourn with the Parkland families whose lives were upended in an instant; who had to bury a piece of their soul deep in the earth. We pray too for those still grappling with wounds both visible and invisible. And, as we remember those lost in Parkland, we also stand with Americans in every corner of our country who have lost loved ones to gun violence or had their lives forever altered by a shooting, in tragedies that made headlines and in ones that did not.

"Out of the heartbreak of Parkland a new generation of Americans all across the country marched for our lives and towards a better, safer America for us all. Together, this extraordinary movement is making sure that the voices of victims and survivors and responsible gun owners are louder than the voices of gun manufacturers and the National Rifle Association."

Remembering those whose lives were lost

Can't see the visual? Click here.

If you or someone you know needs help with mental health, call 211 or the National Suicide Hotline at 1-800-273-8255.