WATCH: Parkland gunman's attorney struggles to fight off tears as he describes children killed in school massacre

One of the defense attorneys for Parkland school shooting suspect Nikolas Cruz was reportedly so emotional during a local news interview that he had to leave to collect himself.

Broward County, Florida's Sun-Sentinel newspaper reported that the attorney is named Gordon Weekes, and is one of the chief assistants in the county's public defender's office.

"Weekes, a veteran defense attorney who specialized in representing juvenile defendants, had to pause several times during the interview because he was quietly crying and unable to speak," the report noted, "when he thought about the victims, their parents, the survivors and the grieving community."

"Could you just make sure the community understands, from the defense’s standpoint, we understand the level of mourning that is going on in the community and we join in that mourning," Weekes continued.

CBS-4 reporter Ted Scouten tweeted that another his lawyers was fighting off tears, and had to leave the interview three times to "compose himself."

"We are parents," he told the Sun-Sentinel. "Our kids attend schools in this community as well. We know what those parents are going through. Actually, we can never know exactly what they are going through, but we can appreciate and empathize with their grief."

Watch video of the emotional interview below:

The public defender of the #ParklandSchoolShooting suspect broke down in tears when talking about the victims pic.twitter.com/EFvn41GcwI

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) February 15, 2018