The Florida dad who welcomed Nikolas Cruz into his home in the months before the teen killed 17 in a school shooting says he doesn’t regret letting the teen store an assault weapon in his home.
James Snead said it was Cruz’s ‘right’ to own an AR-15, and that he didn’t think it was weird that the teen had already amassed an arsenal of five or six guns by the age of 19.
Mr Snead, a military intelligence analyst, and his wife Kimberly, a neonatal intensive care nurse, said that given a second chance, they still would have let Cruz into their home and let him bring his guns with him.
James Snead (left), the man who let Nikolas Cruz (right) stay with his family after the teen’s mother died in November, said it was ‘his right’ to own an Ar-15 assault rifle
Mr Snead (right) and his wife Kimberly (left) say they don’t regret letting Cruz keep guns in their house
Cruz moved in with the Sneads, the family of a former classmate, around Thanksgiving, weeks after his adoptive mother died of pneumonia.
He and his brother were initially sent to live with a family friend, but that wasn’t working out so Cruz left his brother behind and moved in with the Sneads, who helped him get a job and sign up for a GED program. They even got him into counseling, hoping that it would help him with his depression.
Mr Snead said one of the conditions of living with them was that Cruz needed to keep the guns in a safe. He even helped the teen pick the safe out after moving his belongings in their home. Mr Snead thought he had the only key, but now believes Cruz found a way to get a second key.
When asked how many guns Cruz had, Mr Snead was uncertain.
Cruz killed 17 in a shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida last week. He’s pictured above at his first court hearing last Thursday
The Sneads said they let Cruz keep his guns in a safe at the home that they thought they only had the key to. They now think he found a way to get a second key. Above, a rifle Cruz showed off on his Instagram page
Mr Snead wasn’t exactly sure how many guns Cruz had, but believed it was ‘five or six’. Above, another view of Cruz’s arsenal
The Sneads say they knew Cruz was depressed but weren’t worried about him having guns. Above, two other pictures of Cruz from Instragram
Cruz’s adoptive mother Lynda died pf pneumonia in November. He and his brother were first sent to live with a family friend, but within weeks Cruz asked to move in with the Sneads. Lynda Cruz pictured above holding one of her sons
‘I knew he had five or six; I didn’t know what kind they were. It didn’t matter what kind of guns they were. I have guns. I respect guns as long as they’re handled properly, safely. And one of the stipulations before moving in was to have a gun safe before he moved in,’ Mr Snead told CBS this Morning’s John Blackstone on Tuesday.
‘So you wanted him to have a gun safe, but you didn’t know how many guns or what kind of guns they were that he would be putting in the safe?’ Blackstone asked.
‘I knew he had hunting rifles,’ Mr Snead responded.
‘You thought they were just hunting rifles?’ Blackstone asked.
‘I knew he had [an] assault rifle, but I knew he used it out hunting,’ Mr Snead said.
‘That seemed a reasonable thing,’ Blackstone said.
‘It’s his right to own a gun,’ Mr Snead said.
‘You thought it was fine for a 19-year-old to have an AR-15?’ Blackstone asked.
‘It’s his right to have it,’ Mr Snead said.
‘Do you feel any differently about that now?’ Blackstone asked.
‘No. Nope,’ Mr Snead said.
Pictured above is the Snead’s Parkland home where Cruz lived for just three months before the shooting
The Sneads said they knew Cruz was depressed, and even helped him get counseling, but had no idea just how troubled he was.
They claim ignorance when it comes to Cruz’s multiple Instagram accounts, which include several pictures of him showing off his weapons collection and mutilated animals.
In the aftermath of the shooting it has been revealed that the cops were called to Cruz’s mothers home nearly 40 times for violent outbursts.
‘Did it worry you, him having access to guns?’ Blackstone asked the couple.
‘No, he was just depressed. We thought he was just depressed over his mother’s death,’ Mr Snead said.
When asked if they feel any responsibility for what happened, the couple said they did not.
‘We had this monster living under our roof and we didn’t know,’ Kimberly said of Cruz
The Snead couple (shown) claims the night prior to the Valentine’s Day shooting, there was no indication Cruz had unusual behavior
‘We feel heartfelt sorrow for the families involved. As far as being responsible, feeling responsibility, you know we worked that out and there was nothing different we would have done,’ Mr Snead said.
Last week’s shooting has once again ignited a national debate about the nation’s gun laws.
For years, liberals have been calling for a ban on assault rifles like the one used in last week’s attack, arguing that they are designed to kill on a mass scale and aren’t necessary for private ownership.
But conservatives say such a ban would be in violation of their second amendment right to bare arms. The National Rifle Association, a rich lobby group that funds many Republican lawmakers, says the issue is not with guns but in the nation’s crumbling mental health system.
Many of the students who survived the Valentine’s Day shooting are now speaking publicly in favor of increased gun control.
These survivors are scheduled to lead a march on Washington DC next month to draw attention to the issue.