PARKLAND, FLA. (WSVN) - The first person to spot suspected Marjory Stoneman Douglas shooter Nikolas Cruz on Feb.14 spoke with detectives about what he saw, and for the first time, we’re hearing what he said.
Andrew Medina, a baseball coach and campus monitor at the school, observed Cruz when he got out of his Uber ride, just minutes before he would allegedly gun down 17 people.
7News obtained recorded interviews Medina had with detectives.
Medina, in a sworn statement, described Cruz’s movements as he walked onto campus as “walking with a purpose.”
After seeing Cruz make it onto school grounds, he hopped into his golf cart and began radioing campus security about a suspicious person.
He was able to deem Cruz a suspicious person because, according to Medina, everybody at a meeting last year agreed that if there was ever going to be a person shooting up the school, it would be Cruz.
Medina said Cruz noticed the golf cart and started running into a building. Moments after the gunman made it inside, Medina said, he heard the first gunshot.
A few moments later, more gunshots rang out.
Medina quickly went to the school resource officer on duty, former Broward Sheriff’s Office Deputy Scot Peterson.
Medina picked up Peterson in his golf cart as the gunfire continued.
Medina said somebody came on the radio to describe the loud bangs as sounding like fireworks before being corrected by another person, “Those ain’t fireworks.”
Peterson eventually jumped off Medina’s golf cart and ordered him to go to the front of the school.
“He jumped off, and he ran to his own way,” said Medina.
Peterson has been called a coward after the shooting for not entering the school to confront the shooter. He went on the “Today Show,” Tuesday morning, to give his side of the story.
“Those shots I heard, I immediately thought they were outside,” said Peterson. “I didn’t know where they were coming from.”
Students at Stoneman Douglas aren’t buying it, however.
“The biggest lie to me was probably that he didn’t know where the gunshots were coming from,” said student Brandon Huff.
On Tuesday, the wife of Chris Hixon, the athletic director who was killed trying to stop the gunman, spoke out, saying more people need to be held accountable
“My husband had a consequence for doing his job: He gave up his life for doing what he could to try and stop the situation,” said Debbi Hixon, “and, you know, other people need to be looked at as to why they didn’t.”
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