FBI admits it ignored red flags about Parkland shooter, failed to alert authorities

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published 8 March 2018

The FBI has admitted that it failed to properly investigate several warnings about Nikolas Cruz, the 19-year-old who has confessed to carrying out last month's mass shooting at a high school in Parkland, Florida. The bureau made the concession following a meeting with Congress.

Cruz has been charged with killing 17 people at Parkland's Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School on Feb. 14. But multiple times before that day, Cruz had been flagged to the FBI for worrisome behavior on social media, reports the briefing document published by the House Judiciary Committee that summarizes Tuesday's meeting with the bureau. "FBI admits failures and will take corrective actions," reads the summary, published Wednesday.

The document highlights a laundry list of red flags that the FBI admits should have been more clearly communicated to state and local law enforcement, such as a comment on a YouTube video from user "nikolas cruz" that bragged "I am going to be a professional school shooter," and calls in to a tip hotline about Cruz's threatening behavior online. FBI agents investigated the claims but could not trace the comments back to Cruz, and "despite these connected dots," the agency didn't follow up on the matter. "Opportunities were missed," the FBI conceded. Read lawmakers' full briefing here.

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Summer Meza has worked at The Week since 2018, serving as a staff writer, a news writer and currently the deputy editor. As a proud news generalist, she edits everything from political punditry and science news to personal finance advice and film reviews. Summer has previously written for Newsweek and the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, covering national politics, transportation and the cannabis industry.

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