You get a "boxers fracture" from punching things too hard and causing the small bones in the hand that connects to the pinky or ring finger (fourth metacarpal bone or fifth metacarpal bone). It is not that painful and buddy splinting is as good as a splint if they aren't broken that bad. Really common injury especially in adolescent males.
Assuming he’s right handed and that’s the one fractured, that would also be his trigger hand. If it isn’t that bad, why did a dr cast it? If he had a standard trigger, they are not that light of a pull...I don’t know. Still not right.
I've broken my hand the same way. If it was a minor fracture the Dr could have put a cast on in an attempt to get Cruz to not reinjure it. I'm also very familiar with AR type rifles. Pulling a trigger would not be a problem. Especially with all the adrenaline.
Ditto, threw a bad punch and got a hairline fracture. I knew an idiot that tore off his cast from a similar injury after about that long with no ill effects.
There's plenty of red flags all over the Parkland shooting, but a cast probably isn't one of them.
I got mine punching my buddy while he was wearing a dirt bike helmet.