“It was just shot after shot”: MSD teacher Stacey Lippel testifies about Parkland shooting in Nikolas Cruz trial

Stacey Lippel (left) testified against Nikolas Cruz in the ongoing Parkland School Shooting trial (Photo via Getty Images)
Stacey Lippel (left) testified against Nikolas Cruz in the ongoing Parkland School Shooting trial (Photo via Getty Images)

The sentencing trial of Parkland School Shooter Nikolas Cruz entered its third day on Wednesday. The day saw more witness testimony, which included teachers from Parkland's Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.

Nikolas Cruz pled guilty to the school shooting and is charged with murdering 17 people. The ongoing sentencing trial will decide whether his punishment will either be the death penalty or life in prison without parole.

Stacey Lippel, a language arts teacher at the school who witnessed the shooting, testified that she saw Cruz firing the rifle. She said:

"And my memory is that he was standing in front of the stairwell, sort of splaying the rifle back and forth. And it was just shot after shot after shot."

Lippel also told the court how she and teacher Scott Beigel quickly opened their doors to get students back inside the hallway as chaos ensued:

“They were screaming. They were running. It was extremely loud, chaotic. Heard shots. The fire alarm was still going off. And everyone was just running in a haphazard way.”

More witnesses testimony against Nikolas Cruz

Wednesday also saw more teachers from the school testify against Cruz. Ivy Schamis, the social studies teacher, said she was teaching a class on Holocaust history when the shooting started. She said:

"The students flew out of their seats trying to find cover in a very small room. It was really seconds later that the barrel of that AR-15 just ambushed our classroom, it came right through the glass panel in the door and was just shooting everywhere, it was extremely loud, it was very frightening and I kept think about these kids that should not be experiencing this at all."

Two students from Schamis' class, Helena Ramsay and Nicholas Dworet, were killed by Cruz.

Another teacher, Ernest Rospierski, was supervising the study hall on the third floor when the shooting started. Rospierski's head and hip were grazed by bullets, but he still helped students outside the classroom escape.

Ronit Reoven, who was lecturing her advanced psychology class, also testified against Nikolas Cruz. She told the jury that she heard multiple gunshots. Reoven said:

“There were multiple gunshots. They were incredibly loud. BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM! I froze for a moment and the students jumped out of their seats. Of course, they were startled and scared."

Cruz's sentencing trial will continue on Thursday as more witnesses and evidence are expected to be presented to the jury. Whether he gets the death penalty or not remains to be seen.

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