Nikolas Cruz, the perpetrator of the 2018 massacre at Parkland High School, escaped the death penalty on Thursday after being sentenced to life in prison. The sentence caused outrage from the families of the victims, News.ro reports with reference to AP.

“It’s crazy. Everyone knows it, right? It’s crazy,” protested Chen Wang, a cousin of one of Peter Wang’s victims. “We need justice to be served,” he added.

The jury’s decision came after seven hours of deliberations over two days and ended a three-month trial. Disturbing footage of the massacre and its aftermath was shown at the trial, and family members of the victims gave evidence.

“We are beyond disappointed with the verdict,” said Lori Alhadeff, the mother of one of the victims (Alyssa). “He should have been sentenced to death. On February 14, 2018, 17 people were brutally killed. I sent my daughter to school and she was shot eight times. I am extremely disappointed and upset with this outcome of the process. I can not understand. I just don’t understand,” she added.

Under Florida law, jurors must vote unanimously on at least one charge to impose a death sentence.

Jurors found that there were aggravating circumstances in each victim’s case that warranted the death penalty, but they also found mitigating circumstances.

In the end, jurors disagreed on whether the aggravating factors weighed more, so Nikolas Cruz avoided life in prison without parole.

Nikolas Cruz opened fire at his former high school in Parkland, Florida on Valentine’s Day 2018 with an AR-15 semi-automatic rifle, killing 17 people and injuring 15 others.

It was one of the bloodiest school massacres in the United States.