WASHINGTON — The Federal Bureau of Investigation said it was contacted about suspected Parkland school shooter Nikolas Cruz in January but that its "established protocols" weren't followed.
Cruz was charged with 17 counts of premeditated murder and he is being held without bond after Wednesday's mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.
The FBI on Friday released the following statement:
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.
Under established protocols, the information provided by the caller should have been assessed as a potential threat to life. The information then should have been forwarded to the FBI Miami Field Office, where appropriate investigative steps would have been taken.
We have determined that these protocols were not followed for the information received by the PAL on January 5. The information was not provided to the Miami Field Office, and no further investigation was conducted at that time.
FBI Director Christopher Wray said:
“We are still investigating the facts. I am committed to getting to the bottom of what happened in this particular matter, as well as reviewing our processes for responding to information that we receive from the public. It’s up to all Americans to be vigilant, and when members of the public contact us with concerns, we must act properly and quickly.
“We have spoken with victims and families, and deeply regret the additional pain this causes all those affected by this horrific tragedy. All of the men and women of the FBI are dedicated to keeping the American people safe, and are relentlessly committed to improving all that we do and how we do it.”
While speaking to the nation on Thursday, President Donald Trump said that his administration will be "tackling" mental illness.
"We are committed to working with state and local leaders to help secure our schools and tackle the difficult issue of mental health. Later this month, I will be meeting with the nation’s governors and attorney generals, where making our schools and our children safer will be our top priority. It is not enough to simply take actions to make us feel like we are making a difference. We must actually make that difference," Trump said.
Trump is scheduled to travel to Florida on Friday to Broward County and meet with the families and local officials there. He was originally scheduled to visit Orlando on Friday to talk about his new infrastructure plan, but he has canceled that trip.