Families arrive for sentencing of Parkland school shooter

By TERRY SPENCER
Associated Press

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — Families are arriving for the beginning of the two-day sentencing hearing for Florida school shooter Nikolas Cruz. The hearing opens Tuesday with the families of the 17 people he shot and killed getting the chance after nearly five years to address him directly. The 17 people Cruz wounded also will be able to speak. Afterward, a judge is to formally sentence Cruz on Wednesday to life in prison without parole for his February 2018 massacre at Parkland’s Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. Families greeted each other with laughs and hugs as they began arriving. Some appeared to hold notes or scripts.