The FBI admitted Friday that it received a tip from "a person close to" Nikolas Cruz, the 19-year-old who has confessed to carrying out Wednesday's shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, that "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." The bureau did not follow through with the established protocol, allowing the information to fall by the wayside, the FBI said.
The tip came into the FBI's Public Access Line (PAL) on Jan. 5, 2018, and the information should have been passed on to the FBI Miami Field Office for subsequent investigative steps, but it was not. "I am committed to getting to the bottom of what happened in this particular matter," said FBI Director Christopher Wray.
Separately, a YouTube account posting under the name Nikolas Cruz commented on a video in September saying, "I'm going to be a professional school shooter." The comment was reported to the FBI by another YouTube user, but the investigation apparently led nowhere.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Cruz killed 17 at the Florida high school Wednesday.
-
Experience Tanzania’s untamed wilderness from Lemala’s luxury lodgesThe Week Recommends The vast protected landscapes are transformed into a verdant paradise during ‘emerald season’
-
Codeword: October 9, 2025The Week's daily codeword puzzle
-
Sudoku medium: October 9, 2025The Week's daily medium sudoku puzzle
-
4 dead in shooting, arson attack in Michigan churchSpeed Read A gunman drove a pickup truck into a Mormon church where he shot at congregants and then set the building on fire
-
2 kids killed in shooting at Catholic school massSpeed Read 17 others were wounded during a morning mass at the Annunciation Catholic School in Minneapolis
-
Australian woman found guilty of mushroom murdersspeed read Erin Patterson murdered three of her ex-husband's relatives by serving them toxic death cap mushrooms
-
Combs convicted on 2 of 5 charges, denied bailSpeed Read Sean 'Diddy' Combs was acquitted of the more serious charges of racketeering and sex trafficking
-
Sniper kills 2 Idaho firefighters in ambushSpeed Read A man started a wildfire, then fired a rifle at first responders when they arrived
-
Weinstein convicted of sex crime in retrialSpeed Read The New York jury delivered a mixed and partial verdict at the disgraced Hollywood producer's retrial
-
'King of the Hill' actor shot dead outside homespeed read Jonathan Joss was fatally shot by a neighbor who was 'yelling violent homophobic slurs,' says his husband
-
DOJ, Boulder police outline attacker's confessionspeed read Mohamed Sabry Soliman planned the attack for a year and 'wanted them all to die'
