FBI closed case on school shooting suspect Nikolas Cruz after multiple tips about disturbing behavior

The FBI closed the case raised by concerns about Parkland school shooting suspect Nikolas Cruz even though they were aware that two tips were related.

Fox News obtained a summary of a briefing between the House Judiciary and Oversight Committees and FBI Deputy Director David Bowdich. In the briefing, Bowdich reportedly admitted that the agency mishandled two tips about Cruz, one as recently as January 2018, a month before the deadly Valentine’s Day massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.

The FBI received a tip in September 2017 from a witness who claimed to have seen a comment made by Cruz on a YouTube video that read, “I’m going to be a professional school shooter.”

Another call made to the agency in January of this year raised unspecified concerns about Cruz. But the person who took the call “did not ask any standard investigative probing questions,” according to the report, although they connected that call to the September 2017 tip about Cruz.

The person who received the January 2018 call reportedly discussed it with their supervisor and the case was closed, for reasons unclear. The agency did not share its information with state and local authorities.

The FBI is continuing to investigate its response to the tips, Fox News reports.

Cruz was indicted on Wednesday on 17 counts of murder and 17 counts of attempted murder. He remains in custody at the Broward County Jail.

 

[Feature image: Nikolas Cruz/Broward County Jail]