FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — A freshman at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School told investigators he encountered shooting suspect Nikolas Cruz in a stairwell as he was loading his AR-15 rifle and was told, "you better get out of here."

The student's account was released Friday by prosecutors as part of the case against Cruz, who's charged with 17 counts of first-degree murder in the Valentine's Day massacre in Parkland, Florida. The student, whose name was redacted, says he was on a bathroom break when he found Cruz pulling the rifle out of a bag.

He told authorities Cruz said this: "You better get out of here, something bad is about to happen....And then he just, he told me to run. So I ran."

Cruz has offered to plead guilty if the death penalty is waived.

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