As the nation has mourned in the days since the tragic shooting at a Florida high school, many details have emerged about the victims and the suspect in the case, Nikolas Cruz.
The heart-wrenching details of families who have been torn apart by this tragedy are particularly difficult to deal with when we learn the depth of Cruz’s mental illness, and the fact that this senseless tragedy could have been prevented.
Most notably, the emergence of accusations against the FBI for ignoring tips they received about Cruz’s potential for violence.
Had the FBI followed protocol and conducted a full investigation, these senseless deaths may have been avoided.
Fox News reported:
Attorney General Jeff Sessions on Friday ordered an “immediate review” after it emerged that the FBI had not acted on a recent tip that Florida school shooting suspect Nikolas Cruz wanted to “kill people” and there was the “potential of him conducting a school shooting.”
In a statement, the FBI admitted to receiving a call on Jan. 5 from a person close to Cruz who contacted the FBI through its Public Access Line (PAL) tipline to express concerns about his erratic behavior and disturbing social media posts.
“Under established protocols, the information provided by the caller should have been assessed as a potential threat to life,” the statement said. “We have determined that these protocols were not followed for the information received by the PAL on Jan. 5.“It is now clear that the warning signs were there and tips to the FBI were missed,” Sessions said in a Friday afternoon statement. “We see the tragic consequences of those failures.”
Tragic consequences in the form of 17 dead Americans, many others injured, and families that will never be the same again. In addition to the lack of follow-through by the FBI, it appears other significant red flags were ignored by local law enforcement.
One police report listed that deputies responded to Cruz’s home more than 35 times within six years, stemming from emergency calls from the boy’s home in Parkland, Florida.
The calls were made due to multiple domestic complaints of violent fighting on the part of Cruz against both his mother and brother and frequent fights with his brother, who appeared to be equally out-of-control.
It is shocking then that Cruz was never arrested when law enforcement responded, and although a therapist was consulted, it was decided he “was no threat to anyone or himself.”
In fact, Cruz was known by everyone around him to be deeply disturbed, often cutting himself to gain attention, and frequently talking about harmful behaviors. Some social media posts have been discovered that lead authorities to believe he was abusive towards animals, a key warning sign for therapists of a severely disturbed psyche.
It appears he also had some ties to a white supremacist group, Republic of Florida, and took part in paramilitary training drills. Members of that group hint that Cruz may have been having trouble with a girlfriend, thus planning the shooting for Valentine’s Day.
Both the FBI and local sheriff’s department have committed to investigating why this troubled young man was not stopped. The warning signs would have been apparent to anyone, and yet no action was taken.
Fox News continued:
“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,” Wray said in the statement. “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.”
And Senator Marco Rubio stated, “The fact that the FBI is investigating this failure is not enough. Both the House and Senate need to immediately initiate their own investigations into the FBI’s protocols for ensuring tips from the public about potential killers are followed through,” the Republican senator said in a statement.
He continued: “Lawmakers and law enforcement personnel constantly remind the public that ‘if you see something, say something.’ In this tragic case, people close to the shooter said something, and our system utterly failed the families of seventeen innocent souls.”
Words, however, cannot bring these lives back, and it appears the typical “pass the buck” mentality is at play in this case, particularly with the cries of the left that the suspect was able to legally purchase a firearm. The blame here lies with the countless authority figures who let this disturbed individual go, time and time again – not the gun used in the shooting.
In the aftermath of the attack, revelations about the teen’s alarming warning signs appeared to be repeatedly missed — despite the cop calls, a report to the FBI based on a social media posting, his former classmates expressing fear of him and a documented history of mental health issues.
According to reports, Cruz and his brother both suffered from mental health issues, including ADHD and OCD, and took medication as treatment. Nikolas had sought treatment at Henderson Mental Health Clinic and had previously attended a school for students with behavioral problems.
Perhaps if Cruz was really investigated and treated for his illness following any of the dozens of visits to his home, this tragedy could have been prevented. And perhaps, if Cruz hadn’t known that his school was a “Gun Free Zone,” he wouldn’t have known that he could cause mass carnage with little interference.
Nikolas Cruz has confessed to the crimes and been charged with 17 counts of premeditated murder. Mommy Underground will keep you up-to-date on any breaking developments on this tragic story.
What do you think about the warning signs that Cruz exhibited that were ignored by the FBI, law enforcement, and therapists? Leave us your thoughts.