REFLECTING ON LOSS…

Seventeen students and staff were killed in the 2018 massacre that changed a community forever.

Cruz’s life sentence ensures he will never harm others, but it offers no comfort to grieving families.

Investigations continue into the circumstances leading up to the tragedy.

Experts point to a mix of systemic failure, missed warnings, and social neglect.

The story is a stark reminder of the consequences when warning signs are ignored.

And one question haunts everyone affected: how could prevention fail so catastrophically?

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — The gunman who carried out the Parkland school shooting has been formally sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole after a jury last month failed to unanimously recommend the death penalty, disappointing and angering many of the families of the 17 people he killed.

Broward Circuit Judge Elizabeth Scherer imposed the statutorily mandated sentence Wednesday, ordering Nikolas Cruz, 24, to serve a life sentence with no possibility of parole for each of the 17 counts of murder to which he had pleaded guilty, with the sentences to run consecutively.

Additionally, Scherer imposed a sentence of life in prison with a minimum of 20 years to serve on 14 of the 17 counts of attempted murder, and life without the possibility of parole for the remaining three counts of attempted murder. All counts are to run consecutively, the judge ruled.

The end of the monthslong trial to decide Cruz’s fate came after two days of victim impact testimony in which families of those killed and survivors of the February 2018 shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in South Florida confronted the gunman, spelling out for the court what he took from them and expressing their anger he will not be put to death.

“It is heartbreaking how any person who heard and saw all this did not give this killer the worst punishment possible,” Annika Dworet, the mother of 17-year-old victim Nicholas Dworet, said Wednesday. “As we all know the worst punishment in the state of Florida is the death penalty. How much worse would the crime have to be to warrant the death penalty?”

“You robbed Alyssa (of) a lifetime of memories,” Lori Alhadeff, the mother of 14-year-old victim Alyssa Alhadeff, said to the gunman. “Alyssa will never graduate from high school. Alyssa will never go to college, and Alyssa will never play soccer. She will never get married and she will never have a baby.”

“My hope for you is that you are miserable for the rest of your pathetic life,” Lori Alhadeff added. “My hope for you is that the pain of what you did to my family burns and traumatizes you every day.”