By Lucia I Suarez Sang, Fox News
The FBI revealed Friday it got a tip last month that Nikolas Cruz, the 19-year-old accused of killing 17 people on Valentine’s Day, had a gun, wanted to “kill people” and there was the “potential of him conducting a school shooting.”
The agency in a statement admitted receiving a call on Jan. 5, 2018 from a person close to Cruz who contacted the FBI through its Public Access Line tipline to express concerns about Cruz’s 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 January 5.”
In concluded that the caller’s information was not forwarded to the Miami FBI field office and “no further investigation was conducted at the time.” FBI Director Christopher Wray said the Bureau would review what had happened.
“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.”
He continued: “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.”
Cruz had scores of run-ins with law enforcement prior to Wednesday’s shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School dating back to 2010 — with one report saying sheriff’s deputies responded to his home more than 35 times in just six years.
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