Florida school shooter could face execution

The gunman who killed 17 people at a high school in the U.S. state of Florida in 2018 pleaded guilty to all the 34 charges against him Wednesday, handing his fate to a jury that could sentence him to either life in prison or death, reported Xinhua.

Nikolas Cruz, the 23-year-old former student at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, pleaded guilty one-by-one to 17 counts of murder and 17 counts of attempted murder in a courtroom where Judge Elizabeth Scherer read him a lengthy list of questions as well as each of the victims' names.

Carried out on the school campus on Feb. 14, 2018, the shooting was one of the deadliest school shootings in U.S. history, killing 14 students and three faculty members while injuring 17 others.

The case now goes into the penalty phase, scheduled to begin in January. A jury will be selected, which will recommend a sentence to the judge after hearing testimony.

Cruz will face the minimum of life in prison and the maximum of capital punishment. The prosecution has said they plan to seek the death penalty.

"I am very sorry for what I did, and I have to live with it every day. If I were to get a second chance, I would do everything in my power to try to help others," Cruz said to families of those killed by him, reading a prepared statement after his guilty pleas. "I love you, and I know you don't believe me," he said.