(CNN) -
Nikolas Cruz, the gunman who carried out the massacre of students and teachers at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in February 2018, pleaded guilty in Florida court Wednesday to 17 counts of murder and 17 attempted murder charges.
The statement comes more than three and a half years after the Valentine's Day shooting in Parkland, Florida, in which 17 students and faculty members were killed and 17 others were injured in what is the deadliest shooting ever. high school in American history.
The declaration begins to conclude a legal chapter of a massacre that marked a community and sparked a massive national protest movement against gun violence in American schools.
The guilty plea change was anticipated Friday when Cruz, now 23, briefly appeared in Broward County court to plead guilty to charges related to a November 2018 jail fight. At the hearing, the Defense attorney David Wheeler said in court that Cruz intends to plead guilty to the school shooting, which could avoid part of a lengthy trial.
Cruz's defense team had long ago offered a guilty plea in exchange for life in prison without the possibility of parole, but only if prosecutors removed the death penalty from the table.
Prosecutors had rejected it, saying they were seeking the death penalty.
Death penalty trials are divided into two distinct sections: the guilty phase and the sentencing phase.
The guilty plea would resolve the first phase but not the second, and Cruz could still be sentenced to death.
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Parkland Massacre
