Florida school shooting: FBI failed to investigate tip on Nikolas Cruz

The FBI has admitted a tip-off was not passed on about the gunman accused of murdering 17 people at his former school in Florida.

A video monitor shows school shooting suspect Nikolas Cruz in court. Picture: AP

The FBI has revealed that it received a tipoff this year that Florida mass killer Nikolas Cruz had the potential of ‘‘conducting a school shooting’’ but the tip was not passed to the FBI’s Florida office.

In a hugely damaging concession, the FBI today admitted that ‘‘protocols were not followed’’ when the tip-off was not passed on to the FBI’s Miami office.

The FBI said a caller had provided them “information about Cruz’s gun ownership, desire to kill people, erratic behaviour, and disturbing social media posts’’.

“We are still investigating the facts,” FBI director Christopher Wray said in a statement.

“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 is the second missed opportunity for the FBI after the FBI admitted that it had been tipped off in September last year that a person who called themselves Nikolas Cruz had posted an Instagram post which said: “I’m going to be a professional school shooter.’’

The post was reported to the FBI by a YouTube user called Ben Bennight.

But the bureau claimed that a search of public and law enforcement databases had failed to find anyone by that name who was a concern. They said they could not identify who made the comment so it was not investigated further.

“No other information was included with that comment which would indicate a time, location or the true identity of the person who made the comment,” FBI special agent Robert Lasky said.

“The FBI conducted database reviews, checks but was unable to further identify the person who actually made the comment.”

It emerged yesterday that Cruz had been conducting paramilitary exercises with a white nationalist militia called the Republic of Florida. The group wanted Florida to become its own white ethno-state.

Others believe Cruz wanted revenge against the school that expelled him, while others have speculated thane was driven to carry out the massacre on Valentines Day because he was having trouble with a girl he liked.

The profile picture on the Instagram account of Nikolas Cruz. Picture: AP

President Trump later visited a Florida hospital to thank medical professionals who helped the wounded in a horrific high school shooting, coming face-to-face with first responders in the deadly assault, the Associated Press reported.

Trump and first lady Melania Trump arrived at Broward Health North Hospital on Friday local time to pay their respects to doctors, nurses and others who responded to the shooting in nearby Parkland.

They planned later to meet with law enforcement officials at the Broward County Sheriff’s office.

The President tweeted earlier that he would meet with people “whose lives have been totally shattered”.

Some of the parents, survivors and others affected by the tragedy at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School have angrily called for firm action to prevent future assaults.

“I don’t want Trump to come, but we want more gun safety,” said 18-year-old Kevin Trejos, a senior at the school.

The president made the trip to meet with first responders shortly after Air Force One arrived in West Palm Beach for the president to spend the weekend at his Palm Beach estate, about 65 kilometres from Parkland.

More than 1000 people attended a candlelight vigil on Thursday night near the school, and at one point some began chanting, “No more guns! No more guns!”

Lori Alhadeff’s 14-year-old daughter Alyssa was killed and invoked the President’s 11-year-old son, Barron, as she angrily called for help. “President Trump, Barron goes to school. Let’s protect Barron. And let’s also protect all these other kids,” she told CNN, her voice rising to a shout.

“You need to help us, now. We need security now for all these children. We need action, action, action!”

Mr Trump, who frequently boasts about his support for the National Rifle Association, made no mention of gun violence or any new measure to restrict access to firearms during remarks on Thursday about the shooting. Rather, he promised to tackle school safety and “the difficult issue of mental health”.

He also tweeted on Friday that he was “working with congress on many fronts” though he offered no details.

Police say Cruz opened fire with an AR-15 rifle, killing 17 people and injuring 14 more.

Investigators described him as a troubled teenager who posted disturbing material on social media and had been expelled from the high school for “disciplinary reasons”.

The profile photo on Cruz’s Instagram account showed a masked face wearing a “Make America Great Again” hat like those associated with Mr Trump’s campaign.

Mr Trump was expected to meet with officials from the Broward County Sheriff’s Office later on Friday.

Mr Trump was staying at his Palm Beach club this weekend.

In an address to the nation earlier, Mr Trump said America would never abandon its children despite the spate of recent school shootings.

“No child, no teacher, should ever be in danger in an American school. No parent should ever have to fear for their sons and daughters when they kiss them goodbye in the morning,” Mr Trump said.

A member of the Republic of Florida militia shows off in a YouTube video.

The President made no mention of the need for greater gun control in his address, and in a separate tweet he blamed the tragedy on the mental state of the gunman, who was expelled from the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida last year.

“So many signs that the shooter was mentally disturbed, even expelled from the school for bad and erratic behaviour. Neighbours and classmates knew he was a big problem. Must always report such instances to authorities, again and again.”

Police were yesterday searching for a motive for the killings which occurred after the 19-year-old Cruz entered his former school with a high powered AR-15 assault rifle shooting dead 17 teachers and classmates before being arrested.

Attorney-General, governor react to FBI admission

Florida Governor Rick Scott, a Republican, is calling on Mr Wray to resign as director after discovering that the FBI failed to investigate a tip that the Florida school shooter could be plotting an attack, the Associated Press reported.

Mr Scott on Friday sharply criticized the federal law enforcement agency, saying in a statement that the “FBI’s failure to take action against this killer is unacceptable”.

In a statement, Mr Scott said that “an apology will never bring these 17 Floridians back to life or comfort the families who are in pain”.

US senator Marco Rubio also criticised the FBI separately, saying it was “inexcusable” the FBI did not follow protocols. He said that congress should launch its own investigations into what happened.

Attorney-General Jeff Sessions is ordering a review of the Justice Department’s processes.

Mr Sessions said on Friday the shooting that killed 17 people was a “tragic consequence” of the FBI’s failures. He said it was now clear that the nation’s premier law enforcement agency missed warning signs.

The review will include a look at what went wrong and how the agency and Justice Department respond.

Mr Sessions says it may include “possible consultation with family members, mental health officials, school officials, and local law enforcement”.

A Florida police leader said his office received about 20 calls in the past few years about Cruz.

Sheriff Scott Israel of Broward County told a news conference on Friday that his office would be investigating every one of those previous calls to see how they were handled.

He did not disclose specifics about those calls, but says he would take action personally if anyone was remiss in handling any of the calls. He also says seven of the wounded remain in hospitals.

The sheriff also clarified that Cruz never had a gas mask or smoke grenades during Wednesday’s attack, but he did a balaclava or mask with eye slits.

The president of Virginia Tech says the Florida high school where a gunman is accused of fatally shooting 17 people helped his university heal after its own deadly campus shooting over a decade ago.

President Timothy Sands tweeted a link Friday to Virginia Tech’s condolence archive, which catalogs the items it received after a gunman fatally shot 32 people in 2007. Among them is a handmade book from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida.

Sands says, “We will never forget that you helped us to heal.”

The shooting at Virginia Tech was, at the time, the deadliest mass shooting in recent US history.

Cameron Stewart is also US Contributor for Sky News Australia