Prosecutors release videos of Nikolas Cruz describing planned Parkland school shooting

MIAMI -- (WPTV) -- The former student who gunned down 17 people at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, recorded his plans on three cellphone videos, saying in one that he would try to kill at least 20 people.

According to newly released transcripts of the videos obtained from a source close to the investigation, Nikolas Cruz details how he will carry out the shooting.

Investigators discovered the videos on Cruz's cellphone, which was taken into evidence after the shooting. The videos are listed on the prosecution's discovery list. Authorities didn't say when the videos were recorded.

WPTV has chosen not to publish the videos in their entirety without context – because to do so would only play into what this disturbed teenager wanted.

"Hello, my name is Nick and I'm going to be the next school shooter of 2018," says Cruz at the start a video.

On February 14, Cruz used an AR-15-style rifle to kill 17 people and wound 17 others.

Cruz, a former Stoneman Douglas student, roamed the hallways of the 1200 building on campus February 14 for several minutes, targeting victims huddled in classrooms on the first and second floors, killing 14 students and three school employees in one of the deadliest mass shootings in modern US history.

He confessed to the crimes, police said

A Broward County grand jury indicted the 19-year-old Cruz in March on 17 counts of premeditated murder in the first degree and 17 counts of attempted murder in the first degree. A judge entered a not-guilty plea on Cruz's behalf during his arraignment.

Broward County prosecutors have said they plan to seek the death penalty despite his attorney's offer of a guilty plea in exchange for a life sentence.

If a jury condemns Cruz to die, it will take years for the execution to be carried out.

At age 19, he would be the youngest death row inmate in the state.

Florida has 347 people on death row, and has executed 96 people since 1976. So far this year, the state has executed one person.