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Nikolas Cruz: The Parkland Pariah · Minor Mischief Podcast

• Kiki George: What happens when your intrusive thoughts get followed a little too closely? Well, they're not called intrusive thoughts for nothing. This is the Minor Mischief Podcast and this is the story of Nicholas Cruz the Parkland pariah. Welcome back to another episode of the Minor Mischief Podcast. I'm your host and your homegirl for the time being, Mrs. Kiana Amir. And happy mid-April! Happy mid-April 2026. You guys, it's April. Are we okay? Are we okay? Even though this spring, like the elements, the pollen stepping outside of my house is tearing me up. Like every time I walk outside of the threshold of my house, the pollen is like me, meet me. Fun fact. Also, I just found out I have hay fever. but it's all good. It's still gonna be a great year, a good year, an amazing year, a blessed year. It has no choice but to be because we are not taking no for an answer. We get monetized by the end of this year. And whatever it is, whatever your side hustle is, whatever your second stream of income, third stream of income, if you wanted to buy that house or start that business, I am going to speak it into existence. It's happening this year, okay? And please let me know in the comments when it does because I have faith for us both. Write the vision and make it claim plain, right? Right. So listen, today's story is one I knew I wanted to cover ever since the desire to start a podcast about mischievous minors dropped in my spirit. Simply because we lived in the area near where this story happened, and it's just been near and dear to my heart ever since. It was actually supposed to be our Valentine's Day episode. But then I decided to focus on Black History Month stories, so I kind of pushed it back some. Last week our intro was a little long, so I'm going to save you all the drive on the back roads and let's get into it, shall we? We shall. I cannot believe my husband did not know. Like I literally say that every freaking week. Quick trigger warning. Today's episode will detail a school shooting. So listener discretion is highly advised. It is not an easy episode to get through. It's tough. And if it's not something that you're comfortable with listening to, no hard feelings. I will see you next week. I'm gonna try to keep it cute next week. I knew when the show started. that some episodes will be heavy because again, we're talking about young people. It's one thing when you're listening to True Crime and it's like an old man, like, yes, it's still sad, it still hurts. But there's some solace I think that we find in knowing like, you know what, he still lived life, even though he met a very tragic end. When it happens to young people, it's like the potential is gone. You know, we don't get to they don't get to graduate or get married or have kids if they want to. They don't get to have a career if they want to. They don't get to travel and meet friends and people, you know? And so it's just when you think about the potential, it just makes it that much heavier. and today's episode is like that. So no hard feelings if it's not something that you're into, I totally understand. I'll catch back up with you next week. If you want to listen to the episode, I do mention when I'm getting into details about the shooting. so you are more than welcome to skip past that part, whatever is comfortable for you. But let's get into it. So for today's story, let's pack our bags and head down to the sunny area of Parkland, Florida. Parkland, Florida is an affluent community. In Broward County, Florida. And for those of you unfamiliar with Broward County, it is in Southeast Florida, sandwiched between Palm Beach County, which houses Boca Raton, West Palm Beach. I think that's where Venus and Sere Serena Williams live. I think Mar-a-Lago is in Palm Beach. and then it's to the south of Broward County, is Dade County, which is Miami, you know, born and raised in a county of Dade, 305, you know? Trick Daddy is from there. Kodak Black is from Broward County. Oof. Florida. Ooh, Florida. Trick Daddy and Kodak Black. Take that how you want. I lived in Florida from 2007 to 2021. And I can tell y'all some stories. Some stories. And honestly, so I lived in Daytona Beach for a while. And then we moved to South Florida. We moved to Deerfield Beach, which is which is in Broward County. And the stuff that we encountered in Broward County. made for some great storytelling and that's all I'm gonna say about that. In Parkland we find Nicholas Cruz who is our mischief maker and Alyssa Alhadef, Gina Montalto, Martin Anguano, Nicholas Duorey, Aaron Feiss, Chris Hickson, Elena Petty, Helena Ramsey, Alexander Schachter, Carmen Shentrup, Luke Hoyer, Scott Bagel, Joaquin Oliver, Jamie Gutenberg, Kara Lofrin, Meadow Pollock. And Peter Wang, who unfortunately are our victims. Nicholas Jacob Cruz was born on September twenty-fourth, nineteen ninety-eight, in Margate, Florida. Margate is also located in Broward County, to his mother, Norma Woodard. And his biological father's identity is unknown. Why do I feel like his mom's name is not Norma? I feel like her name is not Norma. Wait, that's not Brenda. Sorry. Let's take it back. Nicholas Jacob Cruz was born on September 24th, 1998, in Margate, Florida, to his birth mom, Brenda Woodard. And his biological father's identity is unknown. Brenda, and I mean this in the most non-judgmental way possible, was in her 40s when she birthed Nicholas, but apparently age did not give her wisdom. And age did not give her common sense because she apparently still did not have her life together. You see, Miss Brenda had a very checkered past, one filled with drugs, alcohol abuse, physical abuse, and sex work. And when baby Nicholas was born, she looked at him and she swaddled him and she said, Baby, I cannot care for you. And she gave him up for adoption, which I honestly respect. However, during her pregnancy with Nicholas, Brenda's lifestyle did not change. And Nick was apparently reportedly born with fetal alcohol syndrome. She also, baby, relied heavily on that crack cocaine when she was pregnant. And so, you know, she did it throughout her pregnancy. She does have a daughter, an older daughter named, I believe, Danielle. And Danielle kind of spoke to their childhood and just said that, you know, when her mom was pregnant with Nick, that it did not stop anything. She was still prostituting, she was still tatting and bopping, tootin' and bootin', she was still doing drugs, she was still shooting crack, or do you shoot crack or do you snort it? I don't know how you do crack, but yeah, she was still doing crack, she was still smoking, she was still drinking, like it did not like literally one pony did not stop a show with her. Like she very well continued in the lifestyle she was in while she was very much pregnant with Nick. Nicholas does have two siblings, Danielle, who is the older sister, which I mentioned before, and Zachary, who goes by Zach, who is his younger brother. Shortly after birth, Nicholas was adopted by his parents, Roger and Linda Cruz, and he was raised by them in Parkland, and they adopted him. And then when Zach was born, they adopted Zach as well. Zach is, like I mentioned earlier, also the biological mother, also, also the biological son, excuse me, of Nick's mom. And his birth father's details are questionable as well. And he was born in the year 2000, so he's two years younger than Nick. Now you would think this would be one of those stories where it's like the birth parents messed up, but the kids were adopted swiftly, they had a good life, they were raised by good people, they lived happily, they were in an affluent neighborhood, went to good schools, had whatever they needed. You would think this would be one of those stories, right? Wrong. Nick had been having behavioral issues basically since the day he was born. one of his teachers at the age of three. Did a statement and she said that Nick displayed an alarming amount of disturbing behavior. He would hiss at people, he would scratch at people. She had to create an isolation area for him in his classroom so that he can express himself without harming other children. In an interview with Local News 10, Mrs. Hendler Lubar, which is the teacher's name, she stated, quote, Nicholas would push children, he would scratch them, he would topple over furniture. He would basically stay away from other children. If they got too close to him, he would pounce. Despite Nick's behavioral issues, Mrs. Hendler Lubar stated that he had limited expressive language and lacked motor skills for his age. She stated that she reported that Nicholas needed excessive praise, reassurance, and encouragement to get anything done. And I really wish the people would have listened to her because apparently his behaviors at home mirrored the behaviors at school. Sources closest to the family say that Nick and his brother Zach turned Roger and Linda every which way but loose. And in 2002, they had him formally tested and diagnosed, and he was diagnosed as being developmentally delayed. Roger unfortunately passed away in 2004 when Nick was around six years old, leaving Linda to raise the boys on her own. I would have been standing over Roger's grave in shambles because it's one thing to leave me. It's another thing to leave me with kids. It's a completely different thing to leave me with kids that have serious behavioral cher challenges. Like, Roger, what am I supposed to do here? You know? I would have been so dramatic. It would have been sickening. Nick's childhood was filled with trips to the principal's office and behavioral evaluations. Nick would do things like throw rocks at cars. There was a report that I read that said one time he cornered a squirrel and stoned it to death because he wanted to see how long it would take. By the time he attended middle school, he averaged about three disciplinary incidents per month. And baby, when I tell you, I feel like Linda was up to here. So it's no secret. I talk about my kids, you know, on this podcast regularly. And when Kevin was who's my oldest, he'll be sixteen next week to God be the glory. when he was in elementary school, like he was fine. He was a fine kid. When he turned four. He started cutting up in school. Five, suspension. Six calls every week. Seven, suspensions. Eight DCF was at my door because they were like, What is going on with your child? And honestly, we did eventually find out it was the environment. Cause again, we lived in Broward County, Florida. But because when we moved, we moved out of Broward County in twenty nineteen, I have had zero behavioral issues out of Kevin ever since. Zero. So sometimes it is your environment. But and when I say zero, I mean he still does normal kids stuff. He still does kid stuff, but no suspensions, no infractions, no he I do not hear from his teachers at all. So you know, sometimes it is your environment, but it is hard. It's hard. Like parents of children with behavioral issues know what it's like to feel your phone vibrating or to hear it ringing in the middle of the day. And you just hang your head because you're just like, my gosh, what did this mofo do now? What did he do today? What did my kid do now? Like your heart just drops to the pit of your stomach. So I completely like I sympathize with Linda. Cause I at least had relief. She went through it. In January 2013, the Broward County Sheriff's Office received a call from Linda pleading for help with Nick's anger issues. She said that he had gotten into trouble and as punishment, she took his Xbox away. Kind of like Kevon Watkins. Nick lost it. Nick lost it. He spazzed out. And he took Linda and he got in her face and he grabbed her and threw her into a wall. Officers responded to the home but informed police that she did but Linda informed police that she did not think Nick was really a threat to her or himself. And they in turn told her that, you know, if if you think he's okay and you're saying he's fine, we have no reason to not believe you, we're gonna leave him home. We're not gonna Baker act him and we'll just leave him here. So the Baker Act is a Florida act, so for people of That live outside of Florida. The Baker Act is basically a Florida law that allows for the involuntary emergency detention and psychiatric evaluation of individuals up to 72 hours who show signs of mental illness or pose a danger to themselves or others, and refuse or cannot understand the need for voluntary examination. In layman's terms, if you are acting a fool in Florida, they can involuntarily commit you to the psych ward. Trust me, it has happened to me. Whenever I tell people that story, I'm like, yeah, that's like my time on the psych ward. And you know what? Honestly speaking, everything happens for a reason. Because at the time, I'm like, How dare y'all commit me to the psych ward? But then to me today, like Kiana Amir in twenty twenty six, is like, you know what? I'm glad that happened because if not, your friend would have been on an episode of Sisters Who Kill. So Sometimes it's good to just woo-sai. You know what I'm saying? He probably should have been baker acted. But because Linda said he's good and he said he's good and everybody's saying he's good, then he wasn't. During Nick's eighth grade year, he was removed from West Glades middle school and enrolled in an alternative school for children with mental, emotional, and behavioral issues. And when I tell you they better be paying their teachers when they better be paying them girls, them ladies or the men. those women and those ladies and gentlemen, they better be paying them handsomely because what? Being a teacher is a lot. Being a teacher to develop mentally, emotionally, physically, mentally challenged children. Pay her what like pay her immediately or him. 'Cause you know we don't discriminate. In January 2016, Nick was enrolled into Marjorie Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, his tenth grade year, because the school that he was going to, he ended up getting out of West Gl, you know, leaving West Glades, going to a school for like emotionally and developmentally, behaviorally challenged children. That school went through ninth grade. So he went through that school, which is unnamed. through ninth grade and then in tenth grade he transferred to Marjorie Stoneman Douglas High School, which I guess would be the school that was he was zoned to for where they live. By February twenty thousand sixteen, Nick was reported to police by his neighbor for troubling posts that he made on Instagram about plans to shoot up the school. Because Nick's generation cannot be discreet and post everything online. But we're glad because he they reported it and his plans were foiled for the time being. In the fall of 2016, Nick turned 18. And I guess at this time of life, everyone was like, Okay, you are 18. You are an adult. You are legal. Let us untape these wings and let you fly on your own, right? Chow. Four days later, Nick tried to commit suicide by drinking gasoline and cutting himself excessively. He also started telling people that he wanted to buy a gun. Like, hey. I'm eighteen now. I can buy a gun. I'm about to go buy a gun. At that time, Nick once again was evaluated by a mental health clinician who basically said he was okay and that there was no reason to keep him or baker act him. And two very short months later, the Florida Department of Children and Families closed Nick's case, stating that he is a low risk offender and you know, he's on a good medication regimen, he's going to therapy, you know, he's in school. Like We he's working, we don't need to be worried about him, you don't need to be worried about him. He's at low risk for offending or for hurting anyone. So we're just gonna go ahead close his case. A tale as old as time. And throughout this time, Nick would have seasons where things were quiet, you know. Sometimes it's like, okay, Nick ain't cut up today. All right, Nick ain't cut up this week. However, in January 2017, he decided to make some noise and assaulted another student at Marjorie Stoneman Douglas High School. And in February 2017, you know, he's 18 years old. By all means, you know, schools in the South, they start later. So like Well, they start earlier technically. So, like in the north, because you know, I'm born and raised in New York, as long as you're born within that year, you're going to that grade. So, for instance, my daughter is she is in the sixth grade, which is where I believe she should be. Her birthday is at the end of September. If she had started school in Florida, because she started school at a time where we had moved to Virginia for a little bit. And in Virginia, they follow the northern rules. I guess they're north of the Mason Dixon line, I'm guessing. and so in the southern states, I can't speak for the rest of the country. I'm talking about the Southeast United States of America. If your birthday falls after Labor Day, they move you to the next year. So Nick's birthday is at the end of September. So when he would have turned five. And supposed to be going to kindergarten, they would have held him until the following year when he was about to turn six for him to start kindergarten. And I thank God, 'cause I only have one kid whose birthday is at the end of the year. And, you know, we we're big people. Like we're tall. I'm almost six feet tall. My husband's over six feet tall. He's like six well, he said he's six three. I think he lies, but he says he's six three. my son, you know, he's taller than us all. we ha we're just big people and so I just I'm like she's already tall for her age. So I just couldn't imagine her having to if she was still in elementary school, it would be weird. I'll say that. So we thank God but so I just wanted to show you guys like why Nick is eighteen. He's legally an adult but he is still in high school and because he had had so many behavioral issues and missed so much school, he was not in it was not his senior year. So they basically sit Nick down and they're just like, listen, you're 18, you are getting in trouble. We are suspending you. You're an adult. The graduating class with your age is getting ready to leave this school and you are not even close to where you need to be to graduate. So because of that, we need to let you go. And you're gonna have to get your GD or something because I we can't you're gonna you're about to be nineteen and you're not even graduating. So, you know? And so the Nick grabbed his bag and walked out of the school and one of the sec security guards at the school said that they remember that day so vividly. Like They remember knowing, like, hey, we're gonna have a conversation with the student and then we're gonna ask him to leave. And so, you know, we may call you for an escort or whatever. And so they're waiting. And so they see him leave the office and he grabs his bag and he's walking out. And one of them looks at him and they're just like, That kid is gonna come back and shoot this school up. Like, I feel it. Nevertheless, one month later, Nick walks into a local gun store in Coral Springs, Florida, and legally purchased an AR-15. This might be weird to some people, but in Florida, you can pretty much legally purchase things that would make other states headroll. For instance, like my husband and I took a trip to Florida when we first started dating. And I told him that before we drove back to North Carolina, I wanted to stop at the liquor store and grab a few bottles of liquor. Because, you know, we have a liquor cabinet. So I was like, let's just grab a couple things. because the alcohol situation in North Carolina compared to other states is like prohibition era. Like in North Carolina, you can only buy liquor from state-run stores. There is Fixed pricing. They're not open on Sundays. You cannot buy hard liquor in the morning. They don't even carry a wide variety. my gosh, I sound like an alcoholic. But anyway, so we're in Florida and I'm just like, let's get our liquor here because no you know North Carolina ain't on nothing. And we stop at this liquor store. I pull up to the Walgreens. And he's just like, Where are we? I'm like, we're at the liquor store. He's just like, This is Walgreens. I'm yeah, they sell liquor here. And Me personally, I like to buy alcohol from like the grocery stores or Walgreens because I like to rack up the points. Because then I'm just like cashing out at Walgreens and they're just like, you have $5 cash back. You want to use it? Yes. That's all my liquor purchases. Ooh, I sound like an alcoholic. And if I'm not going to Walgreens liquor, I'm going to either Costco. Costco had an amazing liquor selection. and Publix, the grocery stores, Publix, when Dixie. They you would get rewards points. And then listen, I remember one time my friend had a bachelorette party and I was like, Can I buy all the alcohol for your party? And so she sent me the money and I bought all the alcohol for her bachelorette weekend. And my next three grocery trips were like damn near free because of all the liquor I bought for her bachelorette party. So I had a system. But anyway, I said all that to say that there are gun stores all over Florida. Like Everywhere in Florida that you go, you're gonna find a gun store, a liquor store, and a pawn shop. Like it's just it is what it is. And you're gonna find a cash advanced place. It doesn't matter if you're in country, if you're in the city, you're going to find those four things. So in Florida, all you need to purchase a weapon is your Florida ID or an ID from a state that touches Florida. Quick background check, and then they ask you a question like, are you suicidal? Are you gonna kill yourself? Are you gonna kill somebody else? As long as you sign that statement saying no, you are free to have your gun. Or at least that's how it was when I lived there. My ex and I own two AR-15s, an M16, and about two or three pistols. His idea, not mine. I just never understood the need for civilians to own assault rifles, but I can go on an entire TED talk about it, and that's not why we're here. So Nick purchased his first gun in February 2017 and within the same year purchased at least 10 more weapons. And I am wondering where the hell he's getting all this money from, because he only worked at the Dollar Tree. And guns are not cheap. In September 2017, Nick found himself in trouble again. He was watching a YouTube video from a creator named Ben Bennett, who is a bail bondsman out of Mississippi. He has this YouTube channel. I don't know what he talks about, but he must have gotten excited about the video or something because old Derp Derp decides to comment on it that his life goal is to become a professional school shooter. I'm sitting here like, you were trying to make this a profession? Because honey, I have yet to see a school shooter have another chance at life. It's either jail or death. I have yet to see a mass shooter have another chance at life. It's jail or death. But I truly do believe that he wanted to die that day. Personally, I don't think he planned to live. But I have also yet to see another outcome. Regardless, Ben saw that comment and immediately alerted the FBI about it. And they decided to pay Nick a quick visit to question him. I am not sure of what came of him being questioned by the FBI because he still had access to his weapons and he served zero jail time for that comment. Unfortunately, tragedy struck the crew's home once again on November 1st, 2017, when Linda suddenly passes away from pneumonia. Baby Linda was tired. She was probably like, God, go ahead, because I cannot do this anymore. Because think about it, Nick is 19 now, still living with her, still aggressive. Buying weapons, she's living in fear, and now he's like getting more and more out of control, baby. She Linda was like, let that pneumonia take me out of here. But you know how you know how that goes. Like, it's like you're already spiraling, you're already going down a path, and it's just like then tragedy strikes is going to make you just so much more worse. Sadly, in the wake of Linda's death, Nick and Zach were essentially orphaned. They had no other family and they move in with friends of the family. And baby, it did not take long for Nick's cousin to call the police and say, You need to confiscate every weapon that he owns. So now it's late November 2017. It's after Thanksgiving. I think it's November twenty ninth. And Nick is staying with a family friend by the name of Roxanne DeChamps. And it's just a regular, dagular schmegular day. It's post Thanksgiving holiday season is in full effect. We talked about this not last week, but the week before. Like, time is not a real construct after Thanksgiving. It's like, baby, feed me cookies and leave me be. Roxanne calls the police station and they're just like, hey, you know, how can we help you? And she is frantic. She said, listen, the son of one of my friends is living with me. She passed away at the beginning of the month. I took him in. And we had one rule and I'm gonna give you guys a quick second to guess what Roxanne's number one rule is. You ready? What was her rule? If you said no guns, you are correct. Well, Roxanne's son, Rock, came to her one day and was like, Mom, that guy that moved in with us, he is constantly digging in the backyard. And I'm pretty sure, I could be wrong, but I am pretty sure I saw him hide a gun in one of those holes he's back there digging. And Roxanne is like, I know you lying. And she confronts me. Because what do you mean you brought weapons into my house? And then when Roxanne confronts Nick, he becomes violent and starts punching walls. And, you know, he's going through this whole violent tirade. And then he leaves and he says, I'm gonna go get a gun. And I'll be right back. Spoiler alert, he was not welcome back because as soon as he walked out that door, Roxanne called the police and was like, Help. I never understood the thought process behind treating people who open up their homes to you. Like opening up your home to someone is such an intimate thing to do. Like, this is my sanctuary. This is my personal space. This is where I lay my head. This is where I eat. This is where I should be at peace. And I'm inviting you into it's like I it's like I'm inviting you into my heart. That's how I see it. Like I'm inviting you into my inner domain. I'm in I'm inviting you. into the Holy of Holies. Like I'm inviting you into my sanctuary and you gonna sit here and try to beat me up in my house? No, sir. Hell no. No. I just don't get that. I don't get it. Like she Linda adopted Nick from his crackhead mama. Who was twerking that ass every which way but to the church. And Linda's like, no, you cannot raise a baby in this environment. I will adopt him. I will take him in. And you tormented that woman your entire life. And I get it, like, because I truly do feel like the drugs and stuff that his mom did, I do feel like it affected him mentally. But I'm just like, let's just take a beat. Like I do understand like our like some things are just ingrained in us. Like I get that. But I really want to challenge everyone under the sound of my voice to like whenever you have that like moments like that, like if ever you're jealous of a friend, or if ever you're just like, I wanna be mean to this person and this person has been nothing but kind to me. And I'm not talking about the people where you're like, I know you're kind, but I feel like you're fake and I don't want anything to do with you, that is fine. But I'm talking about people that are genuine with you, people who open their homes to you, people who feed you when you're hungry, people who clothe you when you don't have anything, people who watch your kids and do a good job at it. Like we really need to honor those people. That's all I'm saying. I did not mean to go on that ramp, but you know. The very next day, police receive another tip from a caller in Massachusetts stating that Nick told them that he had started his gun collection back and play has plans to kill himself or become a school shooter. Police go searching for Nick, but I don't know if Nick got smart. I don't know if Nick knew that if he left Broward County, they couldn't mess with him. I don't know, but they could not find him because Nick had moved out of Broward County. He moved up to Palm Beach County with another friend of his, a family named the Sneeds. Like I said, I don't know if this was planned or if this was the only place left for him to go once he pissed Roxanne off. But since he moved to another county, Palm Beach County had no record of Nick's infractions because it's like, you know, a completely separate jurisdiction. And for the first time, he was able to kind of fly under the radar, you know? That was until January 2018 when the FBI received another call from another person close to Nick. So the FBI get this call and the person on the other end is like, hey, listen, I'm a friend of Nicholas Cruz. He lives in Palm Beach County. I'm worried about him. And what he may be capable of. And so the person on the FBI side is just like, okay, well, you know, tell me more. And the unidentified caller proceeds to tell them that they're worried about Nick getting into a school and just shooting the place up. So naturally they're just like, okay, but why do you think he would do that? And the caller tells them, like, he owns numerous guns. He has frequently expressed the desire to kill people, specifically conduct a mass shooting in school in a school. He has been expelled. displaying very erratic behavior and he has posted some stuff on social media that makes me feel like he should not be mingling with the public. The unidentified caller ended the call by saying that they were sure, mark my words, that Nicholas had the potential and the capacity to conduct a school shooting. So the FBI agent on the other line is just like, okay, well thank you for that information, you know. Here at the Federal Bureau of Investigation, we take every call seriously. And they take the information and they place a note in next file because he already had one. And they close it and file it away. The next part of the story does detail the shooting, so listener discretion is highly advised. If you would like to skip this chapter in the links below, you should see a little tab that says child details or next chapter. You can click on that to skip ahead. So now it's February 14, 2018. It is a gorgeous, gorgeous sunny Wednesday in South Florida. It's like the weather was in the 80s, it was warm. Typically, when it gets warm, Like, I don't know. For me, whenever the seasons are changing or whenever like we get nice weather, like there's certain things that kind of to me are like an indicator of the seasons. So I know at this time I was just like, spring is coming, Easter is coming. I'm about to cook my Easter ham. I'm making summer plans. You know, that's just where my like February, March is like, I'm like, okay, what am I doing this summer? You know? And at this time, your homegirl was busy at work. February fourteenth, twenty eighteen. I had worked at a doctor's office that time at Boca Regional Medical Center. And I remember I was sitting at my computer and in our office, it was one big medical office, but each doctor had their own like tiny, like they would basically have offices where each doctor's team would sit. So the doctor would have their office, the team would have an office next to the doctor's. Some doctors chose to sit with their teams. I'm glad that mine did not. And we were a team of four. And I just remember, so the girl, so we were a team of four and we sat kind of like in a row. And there was a young lady that sat on the end by the door because she was the one that would room the patients. And the there was like this little lighting system that would alarm whenever patients would show up. So she was sitting there. The girl that discharged the patients was next to her. There was me who essentially was float staff because I covered everybody. And then there's the lady next to me who did the scheduling and did the phone calls. And so I just remember I was sitting on my computer, I was on the phone with the patient, and everybody's phone immediately starts going off. And we all got a text that said there was an active shooter in the area. And Spiraling at this point because I'm just like, okay, okay, where's the shooter? And the alert that we received on our phones were just like, hey, there's an active shooter in Broward County. so please, we have several roads closed, including Hillsborough Boulevard, Southwest 10th Street, and parts of the Sawgrass Expressway. I got off that phone with that patient so doggone fast, and I started blowing my son's school. Up because his school was on Hillsborough Boulevard. And I'm like, it's toward the end of the day, he should be getting on the school bus. Where is my baby? I need to know what's going on. So I'm blowing up his school and no answer. I was frantic and we couldn't even leave. That's the thing, we couldn't even leave. We were like stuck because it's just like, hey, we can't let you leave because City's on lockdown. Where am I kid? Like it was just too much. But while me and my co-workers were trying to figure out where our kids were at and what's even going on outside the building, let's head back 30 to 40 minutes about two o'clock PM. Nick is in Broad County. He requests an Uber and he gets in his Uber and he is dropped off at the main entrance of Marjorie Stoneman Douglas High School. Nick hops out the car with a rifle case and a dark colored backpack. Campus patrol sees Nick walking towards the building and they're just like, remember that kid that got like kicked out of this school? Yeah, what's going on? he's walking towards the building right now. He's walking purposefully toward building twelve. And building twelve was located at like the northernmost part of the school. And so the campus monitor in building twelve is like. okay, I mean Well now when you say walking purposefully, like, yeah, but why is he here? I mean, I don't know. Do you know why he's here? I don't know why he's here. Should we just like check like should we just stand down and wait? I mean, should we call a code red? I don't know. Like who's supposed to call the code reds? I mean, I feel like we should call the cold reds. No, remember in that last department meeting they told us we do not have the authority to call cold reds. Who should call the code red? I don't know. Okay. Let's just maybe we're maybe we're doing too much. Let's just let's just see how this plays out. Nobody issued an alarm because they were still unsure who actually had the ability to call a code red. In addition, like like I mentioned, they were also told no one should call a code red until gunshots are actually heard or seen. So they're watching Nick walking into the big walking into the building and they're like scratching their heads like, Should we do something about this? 'Cause I don't it's not sitting right with me, but I don't know, you know? I don't know. And Nick enters building twelve at two twenty one. As they're watching him, he stands at the bottom of the stairs to assemble his weapon. Cause it's a three story building that he walks into. So he walks in, he's in the staircase, and he's putting his rifle together. And a student walks into the stairwell. His name is Chris McKenna, and he walks past Nick. And looks at him, and Nick looks at Chris, and he says, Better get out of here. Something bad's about to happen. And you know what Chris did? He got the hell on and he got the hell out. And he alerted as many people that would listen as he was running out of the building. Nick exits the stairway into the first floor hallway and begins firing into the hallway, striking and killing Martin Anguyano, who was 14 years old. Gina Montalto, who was 14 years old, Luke Hoyer, who was 15 years old. He fired into four closed cast classrooms, killing six more students, Alyssa Al Hadef, who was fourteen years old, and was also the captain of the Parkland Soccer Club, Nicholas Duare, who was seventeen, Elena Petty, who was fourteen, Helena Ramsey, who was seventeen, Alexander Schachter, who is fourteen, and Carmen Shentrup, who is sixteen, wounding thirteen others along the way. So while Nick is firing, I guess the smoke and the noise from the rifle set off the fire alarm and sent further confusion and panic into the school because they had just had a fire drill earlier that day. So the fire alarm's going on and they're just like, What the heck? Should we leave? Should we stay? Like, I don't know. And even as the shooting was underwear, a code red still had not been called because campus monitors and campus security were still confused as to who should call it. And eventually a staff member was just like, you know what, I'll rather ask for forgiveness than permission, and issued a lockdown. Because they were just like, the school needs to be locked down, no one in or no one out. But that was only done after they had discovered a body and heard the gunfire themselves. In addition, there was an armed officer on campus, but this guy stayed outside. He never entered the building. He stayed stationed between buildings seven and twelve, radioed home to the police station, but never entered the building. Nick then moved up to the second floor, but not before shooting and killing two staff members on the first floor, Mr. Aaron Feist, who was thirty seven years old, who was shot running toward Nick to shield and assist the students, and Mr. Crick Chris Hickson, who was forty nine years old. On the second floor, Nick continued to fire into classroom. But by God grace, the second floor was empty. He then moved up to the third floor and where he shot and killed five students Peter Wang, who was 15 years old, Joaquin Oliver, who was 17 years old, Jamie Gutenberg, who was 14 years old, Carol Lofrin, who was 14 years old, Meadow Pollock, who was 18 years old, and another staff member named Mr. Scott Bagel, who was 35 years old. Now Scott was caught when he opened his classroom. To allow students that were running away from the gunfire. He was trying to give them someplace safe to hide. And as he opened the door, Nicholas shot him. Meadow and Peter's deaths were especially heart-wrenching because Meadow actually did not die from the initial gunshot wound. She was shot and Kara was shot, and Kara was kind of like over in the corner, just kind of huddled up, just crying. Now remember, Meadow's 18 and Kara is 14. So Meadow sees Kara huddled up in the corner crying, and she's just like, I don't want to leave her by herself. I'm gonna go console her. And so she kind of like drags her body over to Kara's and Nick saw them moving and so he walked up to them and shot them five times, killing them both. Peter Wang was shot because he chose to stay behind and hold the doors open for the others to escape. Because as they're like all running out the door, it's it's like a mass exodus, right? So they're running and the door is like closing behind and it's just piling up and piling up and piling up. So Peter's just like, Okay, no, we need to hold the door open. So he holds the door open, everybody else runs outside. Nicholas comes and shoots him. Nick then entered the third floor teacher's lounge, which was empty, but he was able to see everyone running out of the building. So he attempted to shoot through the windows of the teacher's lounge to kind of spray into the crowd. But thankfully, because this is Florida and hurricanes happened, the third floor windows were shatterproof. So as he was shooting, nothing happened. In addition to the victims named, Nicholas wounded 16 other students and two other teachers. The shooting lasted about six minutes total from two twenty one to well, seven minutes technically, from two twenty one to two twenty eight. And when he was done and ran out of bullets, Nick took off his hat. He took off his bulletproof vest. He dropped his gun. He walked into the staircase and blended in with the other students that were running out of the door, wearing a burgundy J R O T C shirt and a dark colored NYPD hat. Once off campus, Nick walked over to the subway that was located inside of the Walmart and he ordered a cherry and blue raspberry icy. And he enjoyed it as he walked to a nearby McDonald's where he went inside and sat down for a bit. So as he's walking inside McDonald's, there's a booth with another student who whose name was John Wilford. And so John is sitting because he just ran out of the school. He's a freshman, and he runs out of the school and he Runs into the McDonald's, calls his mom and is waiting there. my gosh, I cannot imagine what the employees at the McDonald's were going through. Cause I'm sure he was not the only person that did this. And I'm sure they're just like, my gosh, what the heck is happening? So John runs into the McDonald's, calls his mom. He's just like, Mom, there was a shooting at school. I ran across the street to the McDonald's. He has a sister named Maddie. he's just like, I don't know where Maddie is. And so mom's panicked, he's panicked, everybody's panicked. And so he's sitting at the booth waiting for his mom because of course traffic is probably insane right now. And he looks up and in walks Nick. At this time he didn't know that Nick was responsible for all this. So Nick walks in and he sits in the booth directly across from John and he's just like, Hey, what you doing here? And he's just like, Yeah, I'm just waiting for my mom to come pick me up. And he's just like, Well, can I have a ride, Nick? To John. He's just like, well, can I have a ride? And John's just like, you know, I don't think this is a good idea. Like, I I don't know where my sister is. I just, I I just really need my mom to come get me and we need to go find my sister. And Nick insisted, like, no, I need a ride. Can you please give me a ride home? And John's just like, no, I like I genuinely like I I don't have the capacity. My mom's gonna be here shortly, and I know she's gonna be freaked out because we have no idea where my sister is. And the gag is. Maddie is one of the students that Nick had shot. He shot her three times. So Mrs. Wilford pulls up, John goes with her, they leave Nick and he looks back and he just goes into the car and his mom's just like, Who was that? And he's just like, I don't know, but he creeped me out. Can we please just go? Because we still need to find Maddie. And, you know, they leave. And Nick goes walking off into the distance. Meanwhile, back at the school, Broward County Sheriff finally responds to the scene, and they pretty much join the campus monitors and head scratching. As they arrived to the scene, not a single one of them entered the building. What did they do instead, you ask? Well, according to sources, the three responding officers were all seen ducked behind their squad cars, waiting for instructions. When officers were finally ordered to enter the building, the scene was absolutely chaotic. Nick was apprehended walking down a residential street in Coral Springs, Florida, after someone saw him walking, called the police who was nearby in the area and he just kinda was like, Okay, well, I guess cause the person called and they're just like, There's a strange kid walking around this neighborhood and I know like with all this going on, I just think you should check it out. And the officer's like, Okay, well I'm driving around anyway close by, so I'll just go check it out. And he goes, checks it out, sees that it's Nick, 'cause by now everybody they know who they're looking for. And Nick gave himself up without incident. He just got on the floor, he was arrested and taken into custody without incident. Following the shooting, the school district offered grief counseling to students and their families, and funeral fees were promised to be taken care of by the state of Florida. At their funerals, Peter Wang, Elena Petty, and Mark Martin Duquet were all posthumously honored with the US Army by the US Army, excuse me. With the ROTC Medal for Heroism. Peter was buried in his JROTC uniform and posthumously admitted to the US Military Academy. Marjorie Stone was Marjorie Stoneman Douglas High School reopened for the students on February 18, 2018, with two days with which was two weeks later, with half days of school focused on healing and hashtag reclaiming the nest. It was also announced that building twelve where the shooting took place would be demolished. In early April, the school implemented several new safety rules and regulations. The changes included fewer entrances, law enforcement officers at each entrance, identification badges for students and staff, and the requirement that all book bags must be clear plastic. The use of metal detectors was under consideration, however, several students criticized the new safety measures as ineffective and intrusive. I understand both sides because when my kids started school here, they were told like anyone over the fifth grade in our area has to have a clear backpack. Like there's no and I was so annoyed because I'm like, this is such a violation of privacy. Like my daughter's gonna have to put pads in her book bag. But then the more I thought about it, I'm just like, you know what? You know how much they can't take this to school because of the Claire backpacks? Like How much can't like they can see everything and they walk through a metal detector as soon as they walk in that building. So on the one hand, I'm like, yes, that's a lot for sixth grader, but on the other hand, I'm like, you know what, I'd rather do too much. So there is that. The school held its graduation ceremony on June 3rd, 2018, and diplom diplomas were presented to the families of Nicholas Duaret, Joaquin Oliver, Meadow Pollack, and Carmen Shuntrup, four seniors who were killed in the attack. Principal Ty Thompson began by dedicating the ceremony to those that are not with us. And many graduates wore sashes that were they had a hashtag hashtag MSD strong. So the graduating seniors, a lot of them wore the hashtag MSD strong on their graduation sashes. When I tell you in Broward County at the time, there was nowhere that you can go without seeing hashtag MSD strong. It was on cars, it was on buildings, it was at McDonald's, it was on billboards, like it was everywhere. And you know what? I love to see it. They also decorated their caps with references to the Never Again movement, while some dedicated their caps to their late classmates. Families of the victims also made statements. The mother of Joaquin Oliver accepted his diplom diploma wearing a shirt saying, This should be my son. Talk show host Jimmy Fallon made a surprise guest appearance and gave a commencement speech to the graduating class, thanking them for their courage and bravery. On October eighth, twenty eighteen, almost eight months after the shooting, survivors of the massacre launched Fortify Florida, shortened to Fortify FL, an anonymous tip reporting app. Students could anonymously report suspicious activity on the site and even contact 911 in the event of emergency. On the first anniversary of the shooting at Marjorie Stoneman Douglas High School, the school opted to establish a voluntary attendance day. Organizing a day of community surface with early dismissal so that the school was closed at the time of the attack. A police line was created to shelter those students who chose to attend. The large planned project for the day was to replace the memorial with a permanent memorial garden. They also have moments of silence that they do at ten seventeen in the morning on February 14th every year, with support provided from grief counselors and therapy dogs. Interfaith Memorial Services are also planned at separate locations on the anniversary of the school shooting. In March 2018, Alyssa Alhadef was honored by the U.S. women's national soccer team prior to their game in Orlando, Florida. In October 2019, Nick's defense team, led by public defender Melissa McNeil, offered the pros offered the prosecution a guilty verdict in exchange for 34 life sentences. The prosecution proudly said, no dice. Encountered with the death penalty. On October 20th, 2021, Nick was on board to forego trial and pled guilty because let's not waste time or money. He did it, we know he did it, they know he did it, he know he did it, it was done, it was tragic. He stood in front of a jury of his peers and a judge and several family members and friends of the victims as he issued an apology and pled guilty to seventeen counts of first degree murder and seventeen counts of attempted murder. His sentencing trial started in July 2022 and the prosecution and the defense battled to sway the jury exactly what caused Nicholas Cruz to carry out this crime. The prosecution led by prosecutor Mike Satz presented the story of a troubled kid and later troubled teen that was obsessed with guns, mass shootings, and constant calls to the FBI and local police. They went on to argue that Nick was cold, calculated, and manipulative and deadly in carrying out this attack. The defense painted a picture of a lost boy, one whose mother damaged his brain irreparably with drugs and alcohol. Nick's defense did not issue opening statements, did not cross examine any students or teachers, and asked very basic, very trivial, very non-implicating questions of the very small witness list that they chose. Attorney Melissa McNeil did, however, state that his, meaning Nick's, brain is broken. He's a damaged human being, and that's why these things happen. Jurors were shown body cam footage of what the responding officers saw upon entering the building. Police testified to responding to the scene and having to move the bodies of the deceased to check for other victims. For instance, they detailed how Joaquin Oliver's dead body was blocking the bathroom door and how they had to wedge it away from the door to move him so that they could make sure that no one else was inside of the bathroom. He also saw that he said student Peter Wang slumped down to the ground. In addition, student Anthony Borges took the stand. And showed jurors his scars and detailed his journey of recovery after being shot five times. Showing jurors where he was shot five times. Anthony Borges's body bears the scars of the brutal shooting. Fourteen surgeries since that Valentine's Day in twenty eighteen. The Parkland shooter in the courtroom today shielding the sound of terror he caused with his thumbs in his ears, but in twenty eighteen splaying the rifle back and forth. They started tending to the wounded to include Madeline Wilford. I was shot four times in my right arm, my right lung, some of my ribs on my right side, and I had surgery on my abdomen. Anthony was the longest survivor recovery-wise. as he remained in the hospital until April 6th, 2018, over six weeks after the shooting. Jurors had to deliberate on whether or not Nick would be sentenced to death and they were sent out to deliberate. Before handing down the sentence, the judge addressed the victims' families, thanking them for quote, the privilege of learning about each and every one of their loved ones. I can tell you that they will not be forgotten and I can feel how I know each and every one of them by the personal stories that you have given. You have all been so strong and patient and graceful throughout this process, and I can't help but to think how I would behave or respond if I were in your shoes. If I could take away your pain or carry your pain for you for just five minutes so that you can breathe, I would. Because I can't even imagine what you go through each day. Lori Al Hadef, mother of Alyssa Al Hadef, issued a statement to Nick after the trial saying, You robbed Alyssa of lifetime memories. Alyssa will never graduate from high school. Alyssa will never go to college. Alyssa will never play soccer. She will never get married. And she will never go to college. Alyssa is gone. She will never have a baby. My hope for you is that you are miserable for the rest of your pathetic life. My hope for you is that the pain of what you did to my family burns and traumatizes you every day. And with that, Nick was sentenced by Judge Elizabeth Scherer to life in prison without the possibility of parole. Which brings me to where are they now? In the aftermath of the shooting, many of the students had a hard time adapting to life. Many reported struggling with PTSD and survivor's guilt. And on March 17, 2019, a survivor by the name of Sidney Aiello, who had been going through treatments for survivors' guilt, PTSD, and Fear of classroom settings died by suicide. Less than one week later, on March 23rd, 2019, another survivor, 16 year old Calvin Desire, also died by suicide. And the surviving students and faculty still report issues in recovery to this very day. Most recently in December of 2025, a former student, 26 year old at now at this time, Donathan Mateo, died by suicide. His family released a statement after his death stating that Donovan had been battling schizophrenia since right after the shooting. The civil suits went crazy after this case, as fifteen survivors sued the county sheriff and school officials for failure to protect. But this case was dismissed by the judge stating that the government did not have duty to protect the defendants from the actions of the shooter. And I'm really was trying to figure out like, okay, in what worlds is that okay? Like isn't the model of the police department to protect and serve, or is that just the MYPD? You're an police officer. Because when we say we don't trust y'all, then you say, Okay, well call a crackhead when you're in trouble. And then when we're calling y'all, y'all are saying, Hey, you know, it's really not our duty to protect. You know, I just I don't understand. I don't get that. But this is not about me. But I could go on a tangent about that statement. And that judge needs to be derobed immediately. Some of the officers involved in the school shooting response or lack thereof were let go from their role in the department. The school officer that I mentioned earlier, his name actually was Scott Peterson, the one that stood between the buildings as all this craziness was going on and did not save a single student. Yeah. He actually got sued. And he was charged and tried for failing to protect the students during this shooting. However, he was found not guilty on all accounts. And I hate that. Because you literally took an oath to protect. And you protected nobody but yourself that day. Like the I like guilt gotta be eating him up. Guilt has to be eating him up. Because you went into this job, you did the training, you took an oath. Yes, I'll I'm on the front lines. Do you think the firefighters on nine eleven wanted to run into a burning building? Do you think that pilots wanted to fly after nine eleven? Like these is our jobs. Do you think that I want to travel for open enrollment every November? These are the jobs we sign up for. If you don't like it, the same way that y'all like to tell waitresses stop complaining about tips because they signed up to be a waitress, it's the same way that I'm about to tell this man that you cannot, you should be ashamed of yourself because it is your duty to protect children. And you are a coward and you punked out. I hope guilt is tearing you up. And that's all I'm gonna say about that. In October 2021, the families were awarded a $25 million settlement from the Broward County School District after a lawsuit was filed by the families of the 52 victims, both alive and deceased. Nicholas is currently serving a sentence at an undisclosed location, mainly for safety reasons. Even though I feel like if we really digged, we could find him. But they have redacted his like housing information or where he is off of the internet. Because a lot of the family friend a lot of the family members, friends, teachers, people closest to the victims have been heard saying or making posts or coming into agreement with things along the lines of we wouldn't be mad if one of the f your fellow inmates did away with you in prison. I'm not gonna say all that, but that's what they said. Me personally, I just I I have a hard time wishing death on anybody because I'm like everybody has somebody and I just The way I don't want to lose anybody is the same way I don't want nobody to lose nobody. So that's just, you know. Zach moved to Virginia where he was taken in by two these two guys. I don't know if they're relatives, friends. He was taken in by these two guys to really get a fresh start. But then unfortunately, the two men were arrested on suspicion of exploiting Zach. That was a whole other thing. I'm like, what? Y'all leave Zach alone, please. He'd been through enough. Now I did see a few places where Zach has been arrested for some assault. Little battery. I think I saw like three arrest records for him. I could be wrong. Listen, Zach is living his life. Y'all please leave Zach alone. Just let him live his life. Just let him live his life. Brenda Woodard, who if you remember is Nick's birth mom, she passed away on August 23rd, 2021, but the details of her death and burial are not public. The Parkland shooting remains one of the deadliest school shootings in US history and the deadliest mass shooting in Florida state history. Which brings me to my final thoughts. I just want to start off by saying that this researching this case was very nostalgic. Because like I said, I remember where I was. I remember getting that text, getting that call. Like we're locked down. Like w we have an active shooter in a school. We're locked down. And I just remember the sheer panic. Because this was after the what was the school shooting in Connecticut? New New Newtown. The Newtown school shooting. This was after that. And you know, at the time I had two children, and you know, my oldest was in second or third grade, and my youngest in my middle grade. Kid now was in daycare. And I just remember how panicked I felt not knowing what was going on and if my kids were okay because we didn't know what school it was at. And I just remember like leaving work, speeding over to my son's school, like and they had all the kids like it was like a buddy system. Like everybody was with somebody and they were just like, Who are you? Who are you here for? Where's your ID? It took forever to get home that day. And that night I remember, because I'm Caribbean and every Caribbean or Hispanic household is gonna have a big pot, a big heavy metal pot. And so I remember Kevin grabbing it and I was like, Why are you holding this? Like he stayed up really late that night because he just couldn't sleep. And he was just like, I'm trying to figure out a way to place a shield in my book bag because if this happens again. Like it happened so close to my school. If this happens again, I want to protect myself and I want to see if I can help my class. Like if we could just put this in the window. And then maybe it'll absorb the bullets and we can be okay. And that broke me. Because it's enough that we're not safe at sporting events and we're not safe at games and we're not safe at the mall. And we're not safe at the movies and we're not safe. In our homes. Like we're not safe. But it's another thing to feel like I can't even send my baby to school. The older I get and the more that I live life, the more that I realize that homeschooling really probably is the way. Unfortunately, I just don't have the capacity or bandwidth because I will be yelling, if Johnny had five apples, I don't have the capacity. If my dad was still alive, I would totally just homeschool my kids and have him be their teacher. And I think he would do it. My mom don't have the capacity. As much as she would love to. Junior, if Johnny had five apples, got it from if Johnny had five apples senior. So I know, but it's just life is so scary, you know? And there was an article I read from one of Nick's friends from the sixth grade. And he said that Nick would go around introducing himself as, hey, I'm Nick. I'm gonna be a school shooter. And I do feel like, you know, when we go through these cases, we get to the point where it's just like, why don't y'all do something? Why don't y'all intervene? But the thing about it is, intervention was there. He had been in an IEP. He had been Baker acted. He had been all of these things. The only thing that I read in this story where I'm just like, okay, maybe you were wrong for that is the fact that. When he shoved Linda into that wall, she should have let them take him. But I feel like she felt bad for him and she did not want him to be hurt. So she was just like, you know what? It's fine. We can manage. She should have let them take him. Whenever someone is spiraling, don't ever step in the middle of an intervention measure. Whether that's sending them to psychiatric hold, whether like let them go. Because Holding on to them and trying to protect them is not going to help them. It's going to be to your detriment. And the more that I'm reading these stories and I'm seeing like typically like the behaviors are there. I'm not gonna say all the time because, you know, nothing is exclusive, but typically the behaviors are there and I just feel like had someone there were so many chances. I'm disappointed in the police department of Broward County. I'm disappointed in the FBI. I'm disappointed in the school security officers. I'm just disappointed because this did not have to happen. And there was more than enough runway for intervention to occur. But at it's like at this point, it's like who can we even point the finger at? Because he was just failed so many times. But above all, he failed himself because he went through his whole life. He got exactly what he wanted. He wanted to be a school shooter. He wanted to be infamous and he got that. But that's not the life you want, you know? I truly do feel like he wanted to die. I feel like he was horribly depressed and I feel like he felt rejected. Nobody liked him. Everybody that was interviewed was just like he was weird. Like we didn't really do with him. But you know what? The guy that he saw in the hallway that he looked at and was just like, Get out of here is about to get real. Sure that like I need to find him. I need to find him and I need to I need to talk to him. Because what how are you? What are you feeling like? How are you? Because when I tell you the way that I would have lived my life with such purpose after that, like, my gosh, every day would have been a blessing. Because what? He let you go. my gosh. Jeez, this story was just this case was heavy. This situation was heavy. But like I said, I just remember I remember that day and I just remember how I felt. But it's like when I think about my feelings, my feelings pale in comparison to the person who actually showed up to the school to be told that their child had been killed. My feelings pale in comparison to the person that, you know, had to bury somebody or had to be in the hospital with their kid about this, you know? My feelings pale in comparison to the teachers that day. Like, they don't get paid enough to be going through this. Protect them, seriously. At any rate, that is our show. There's so much more that I could have added to this episode, but I really just wanted to stick to the integrity of the story and really not make light of it because and you know, I don't mean to make light of anything. I'm just I'm just a funny person. Like gotta laugh. I have to. I have to laugh to keep from crying. So when I'm like making jokes or like saying little stuff like that, it honestly it bothers my husband so bad because he's like, you really cannot be serious. It's it's a problem. So I'm not doing this just to be cute. I'm this is a per it's a personality flaw. And I just laugh in uncomfortable situations. But that is our show. What do you think? Like I just this case just like my chest hurt so bad just researching it and it's funny because like I said, I used to live close to the area and one of my really good friends still lives there. And I just reached out to her and I was just like, my gosh, I just did this case and I just remember being there and I remember being with you and I remember, you know, all the things and it's just I don't know. Anyways, that is our show. That's our show, guys. I know usually I'm more jovial at the end of the show, but I'm just, man, I'm just this story was just so tough. It was so tough. It was so tough. Nobody in any of the cases that I covered deserve it. Maybe nobody deserved it. I'm not even I'm not even about to go down and say what I was about to say. There was one person I could think of, like, okay, baby, you had that coming. But I'm not gonna say that you know why? Because life and death are in the power of the tongue and I would never want I don't wanna have coming what I got coming. So I'm not gonna wish what's coming on anybody on them, because I don't want what I got coming to me, so I know you don't want what's got what's coming to you. But follow me on TikTok, Minor Mischief Pod on Instagram, Minor Mischief Podcast, case suggestions, story ideas, you name it, minor mischief podcast at gmail dot com. I can't think of anything else. Anything else? Write me. Leave a review. Let's get the show out to others. You know what I'm saying? let's try to make some money so that I can make my episodes better. You know what I'm saying? and yeah, that's our show. So I will see you guys next Thursday, same day of the week. I love you to life. And until then, stay mischievous, friends.