Parkland school shooter donates his brain to science

A teenage school shooter who brutally slaughtered 17 people has shared a shocking update six years on from the massacre.

A teenage school shooter who brutally slaughtered 17 people at his former high school has shared a chilling update six years on from the massacre.

In February 2018, Nikolas Cruz walked into Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Floridam armed with an assault rifle and went on a terrifying killing spree.

The violent rampage left 17 people dead and injured 17 others, making it one of the deadliest school shootings the US has ever known.

Now, six years on from the tragedy, Cruz – who is serving life in prison – has reached an unusual civil settlement with one of his victims.

School shooter Nikolas Cruz killed 17 people. Picture: Amy Beth Bennett / POOL / AFP

Cruz has agreed to donate his brain to medical science after he dies, with the victims stating that they hoped this would shed light on “what created this monster”.

A lawyer for Anthony Borges, 21, who was shot five times in the attack, proposed the unusual stipulation.

“I figured if scientists studied his brain they might be able to figure out what created this monster,” Borges’ lawyer, Alex Arreaza, told Fox News.

“Maybe there was some kind of imbalance that caused this that we can prevent in the future.”

Seventeen others were injured in the deadly attack. Picture: JOE RAEDLE / AFP

The new settlement also gives Borges the right to Cruz’s name for use in movies, books and other media.

This means the killer will never be able to profit from his heinous crime and will need to obtain permission from Borges if he ever wants to give interviews in the future.

“We didn’t want him to be able to continue torturing the families,” Arreaza said, referencing O.J. Simpson’s book “If I Did It” as a cautionary tale.

The agreement was confirmed during a Zoom meeting between Borges’ father Rory Borges, Nikolas Cruz and Alex Arreaza.

Anthony Borges, who is suffering from PTSD, did not feel comfortable joining the discussions, his lawyer said.

“You could see what a psychopath he is,” Arreaza said of Cruz.

He was 19 at the time of the attack. Picture: AFP

Cruz during his arrest after the shooting. Picture: Supplied

“He looked at Rory when we were all done and asked if he could apologise, and Nikolas apologised to him like they had been in a car accident together.

“It was just very cold and weird.”

Then 15-year-old Borges barricaded a door with his body to keep Cruz from entering a classroom, where he cowered with other students.

The once promising soccer player suffered severe injuries to his legs and torso in the attack, which resulted in him undergoing more than a dozen surgeries.

Borges will also receive the US$430,000 (A$636,000) that Cruz is expected to receive from a relative’s life insurance policy.

The shooting rocked the nation. Picture: AFP

In a prior settlement, the Broward County Public School District paid A$26 million to victims of the shooting, of which A$1.8m went to Borges

An undisclosed settlement from the FBI for their inability to prevent Cruz’s rampage also went to Borges.

He and other victims have pending lawsuits against School Resource Officer Scot Peterson and the Broward County Sheriff’s Office

The horror shooting continues to haunt the young man, who says he is happy the site of the massacre is being torn down.

“Every time he drove by there, it brought back memories,” Arreaza said.

Demolition crews continue to tear down a building at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. Picture: AFP

California lawyer Scott Herndon, who has represented victims of mass shooters in the past, told the outlet that the settlement was novel.

“I’ve never heard of anything like this before. It’s pretty unique,” Mr Herndon said.

“It underscores the feeling of those left behind that whatever can be done to avoid these massacres in the future should be done.”

He said it is not uncommon for a perpetrator to give up the rights to his name as part of a settlement.

Borges was shot five times in the attack. Picture: AFP

Cruz was a former student of the school. Picture: Yearbook Photo / Supplied

At the time, the Parkland massacre was the second deadliest school shooting the US had ever known (not including universities) behind the Sandy Hook massacre which saw 26 dead at the hands of Adam Lanza.

Four years later, Salvador Ramos would kill 21 people in a chilling rampage at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas.

According to the Washington Post, there have been 413 school shootings since the notorious Columbine School Massacre in April 1999.

There have been 287 mass shootings in the USA just in 2024, according to the National Gun Archive.