Florida shooting: British witness tells of horror attack as gunman CONFESSES to police

Lewis Mizen, from Coventry, said he was “terrified” after expelled student Nikolas Cruz arrived on campus at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland on Wednesday where he killed 17 people and began shooting before abandoning his AR-15-style rifle and escaping. 

The 17-year-old revealed how he hid with around 20 other pupils in a cupboard as the terror unfolded. 

Tragically, Lewis’ close friend was kiilled. 

He told the BBC: “It’s a nightmare come to life.” 

FLORIDA SCHOOL SHOOTING: WHAT GUN WAS USED IN THE MASSACE? 

Florida shooting Lewis Mizen BBC

Lewis Mizen of the horror of the Florida shooting

It’s a nightmare come to life

Lewis Mizen


Cruz, 19, was charged with 17 counts of murder on Thursday in what has been described as one of the deadliest shootings in US history.

The court document read: “Cruz stated that he was the gunman who entered the school campus armed with a AR-15 and began shooting students that he saw in the hallways and on the school grounds,” 

Shock court documents reveal how Cruz told police he was carrying extra ammunition in a black duffel bag and backpack. 

He said he discarded the weapon in an attempt to blend in and escape. 

Cruz fled the scene before entering a Walmart and a McDonald’s, but was eventually spotted by police and arrested one hour after the deadly attack. 

It is belived that Cruz set off a fire alarm before the attack so students would leave their classrooms and pour into the corridoors. 

He said he believed it was a fire alarm before school administrators started screaming: “Code red, get back in the building!”

It was then that Lewis and his felllow classmates ran back into the classroom with their teacher where they were “huddled under desks” before moving into a storage cupboard.   

Florida shooting GETTY

Nikolas Cruz confessed to the shooting according to police

He said: “We didn’t hear the bullets, but we heard the helicopters. We knew at that point it was something really serious.”

The Parkland massacre is now the eighth-deadliest attack in modern US history, with the Las Vegas shooting in 2017 the deadliest mass shooting in the US – in which 58 people were killed.

Lewis added: “It’s one of those things you see on the news and think that will never happen to you, but it has.

“I have friends who have been killed, I have friends who have been shot. How can this be real?” 

Lewis Mizen FACEBOOK

Lewis said he was terrified

It was the second deadliest shooting in a US public school after the 2012 massacre of 20 first-graders and six teachers at Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown, Connecticut. 

The deadly attack comes after an FBI agent revealed the Bureau was warned last year about an ominous online comment by Cruz, but was unable to locate him.

The FBI has now begun an extensive review of how it handled the tip.

President Donald Trump this week addressed the shooting in a White House speech that emphasised school safety and mental health while avoiding any mention of gun policy.

Thursday night's candlelight vigil at Pine Trails Park amphitheatreGETTY

Thursday night’s candlelight vigil at Pine Trails Park amphitheatre

Trump said at the White House: “It is not enough to simply take actions that make us feel like we are making a difference.

“We must actually make that difference.”

During his address the President did not mention gun control directly.

But instead he vowed to tackle mental health after yesterday’s deadly shooting in Florida and said the entire nation “with one heavy heart” is praying for the victims and their families.