Already have an account?
Get back to the

Parkland Student Isabelle Robinson Tried to Befriend Shooter Nikolas Cruz

Parkland Student Explains What Happened When She Tried to Befriend Shooter
Students and family members attend a candlelight vigil for victims of the mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School yesterday, at Pine Trail Park, on February 15, 2018 in Parkland, Florida. Mark Wilson/Getty Images

Six weeks have passed since Nikolas Cruz opened fire with an AR-15 rifle at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, on February 14, killing 17 students. Now, survivor Isabelle Robinson is sharing a heartbreaking story about what happened when she tried to befriend the 19-year-old years before the attack.

“My first interaction with Nikolas Cruz happened when I was in seventh grade,” Robinson, 17, began in a Tuesday, March 27, op-ed for The New York Times. Robinson, now a senior in high school, was chatting with friends in the cafeteria when he hurled an apple at her back.

Related: Celebrity Deaths in 2018: Stars We’ve Lost

“The force of the blow knocked the wind out of my 90-pound body; tears stung my eyes. I turned around and saw him, smirking,” she wrote. “I had never seen this boy before, but I would never forget his face. His eyes were lit up with a sick, twisted joy as he watched me cry.”

A cafeteria aide rushed over to make sure Robinson was OK. “In my 12-year-old naivete, I trusted that the adults around me would take care of the situation,” she recalled. “Five years later, hiding in a dark closet inside Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, I would discover just how wrong I was.”

Nikolas Cruz mugshot Florida school shooting
Nikolas Cruz. Broward County Sheriff's Office

Related: Most Shocking Celebrity Deaths of All Time

Just one year after Robinson was assaulted by Cruz, she was assigned to tutor him. “Despite my discomfort, I sat down with him, alone. I was forced to endure him cursing me out and ogling my chest until the hourlong session ended,” she wrote. “When I was done, I felt a surge of pride for having organized his binder and helped him with his homework.”

But Robinson feels differently today: “Looking back, I am horrified. I now understand that I was left, unassisted with a student who had a known history of rage and brutality.”

Robinson does not support the notion that if only Cruz’s classmates had been kinder to him he wouldn’t have committed such a terrible act of violence. “That is not to say that children should reject their more socially awkward or isolated peers — not at all,” she wrote. “As a former peer counselor and current teacher’s assistant, I strongly believe in and have seen the benefits of reaching out to those who need kindness most.” 

But according to Robinson, no amount of kindness could have changed Cruz. “That is a weak excuse for the failures of our school system, our government and our gun laws,” she wrote, before turning her attention to her younger sister.

Related: Celebrity Mugshots

“I hope she will never know the fear that I have become so accustomed to in the past month: The slightest unexpected sound makes my throat contract and my neck hairs curl,” Robinson revealed. “I beg her to trust her gut when she feels unsafe. And I demand that the adults in her life protect her.”

Cruz was charged  with 17 counts of first-degree premeditated murder and another 17 counts of first-degree attempted murder for the massacre at his former *school. Prosecutors in Florida have said they plan to seek the death penalty for Cruz, The New York Times reported earlier this month

Got a Tip form close button
Got a tip for US?
We're All Ears for Celebrity Buzz!