The FBI Admits It Was Warned About the Parkland Shooting Suspect Weeks Ago but Did Nothing

The FBI said on Friday that it had been warned about Nikolas Cruz, who has been charged with killing 17 people at Stoneman High School in Parkland, Fl, but had failed to act in what they described as a breakdown of FBI “protocols.”

According to the FBI:

On January 5, 2018, a person close to Nikolas Cruz contacted the FBI’s Public Access Line (PAL) tipline to report concerns about him. The caller provided information about Cruz’s gun ownership, desire to kill people, erratic behavior, and disturbing social media posts, as well as the potential of him conducting a school shooting.

This information, the FBI said, should have been referred to its Miami field office. But that didn’t happen. The FBI did not elaborate on what had caused the communication breakdown, or what measures would be taken to ensure the mistake is not repeated in the future.

“We have spoken with victims and families, and deeply regret the additional pain this causes all those affected by this horrific tragedy,” FBI Director Christopher Wray said.

The lapse comes as documents obtained by CNN show Parkland Police had also been called to Cruz’ house 39 times over the course of seven years.

The revelation that both local and federal law enforcement had been aware of Cruz and the threat he posed seems to fly in the face of President Donald Trump’s insistence that reporting Cruz’s behavior “to authorities, again and again!” would somehow have prevented the Parkland massacre.