Florida School Shooting: Teenager Says Cruz Bullied Her

PARKLAND, FL — Stephanie Bergeron no longer attends Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, but the 17-year-old returned to the tree-lined campus on Wednesday with her sister, Jessica. She was there for moral support as the campus sprung back to life following the Valentine's Day attack that left 17 dead and 16 others wounded two weeks earlier. Both sisters were hoping to put a painful chapter in their lives behind them.

Stephanie Bergeron was carrying Bear, her four-year-old pet ferret for emotional support.

"I brought him for my own comfort," she told Patch. "It's helping me and especially with her, because she was there that day. I wasn't' there."

Bergeron said that both she and Jessica were bullied by accused school shooter Nikolas Cruz as they were growing up.

"We used to know the shooter," explained an adult who accompanied the girls to the school. "He lived our street over. He used to pick on them all the time. He was a bully."

She said that the family complained but nothing happened. "He would pick on the girls on the bus and do all kind of stuff to them," she recalled.

Stephanie Bergeron is now home schooled as a result of the bullying.

"I cursed him out one time and he threatened to kill me," the teen said of Cruz, who is facing 17 counts of premeditated murder. "He was like 'Watch it. I'm going to kill you one day.'"

She told Patch that she'd sometimes see Cruz walking on her street and behind the homes of her friends. She never forgot the chilling warning he gave her when she confronted him.

He's like: 'You need to watch your back. I know where you live,'" she recalled.

As the two sisters gathered outside Stoneman Douglas on Wednesday, Bear was a big hit with the returning students.

"Everyone was flipping out. They're like 'oh my God,'" said Stephanie with a smile.

Stephanie Bergeron stands near Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School with her pet ferret. Photo by Paul Scicchitano.