FBI failed to act on tip about accused shooter
FBI ADMITS FAILINGS
The FBI received a specific report in January that the suspect in the Florida school shooting could be plotting an attack, but agents failed to investigate the tip, the agency said Friday. A tipster who was close to Nikolas Cruz called the FBI and provided information about Cruz’s guns and his erratic behaviour, including his expressed desire to kill people and his disturbing social media posts. The caller was concerned that Cruz could attack a school. In a statement issued Friday, the agency acknowledged that the tip should have been investigated thoroughly. The FBI was also notified about a comment on a YouTube video posted by a “Nikolas Cruz” last year. It investigated the comment but did not determine who made it. Florida Gov. Rick Scott called for the FBI Director Christopher Wray to resign. “Seventeen innocent people are dead and acknowledging a mistake isn’t going to cut it,” the governor said. “The families will spend a lifetime wondering how this could happen, and an apology will never give them the answers they desperately need.” Attorney General Jeff Sessions said the shooting was a “tragic consequence” of the FBI’s missteps and ordered a review of the Justice Department’s processes.
AR-15’S GRIM TOLL
On average, more than 13,000 people are killed each year in the United States by guns, and most of those incidents involve handguns while a tiny fraction involve an AR-style firearm. Still, the AR plays an oversized role in many of the most highprofile shootings, including the nightclub shooting in Orlando in which 49 people died and the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history: the attack by a gunman holed up in a Las Vegas hotel that left 58 dead and hundreds injured. An estimated eight million AR-style guns have been sold since they were first introduced to the public in the 1960s, and about half of them are owned by current or former members of the military or police, the National Shooting Sports Foundation said.
EXCELLENT MARKSMAN
Cruz excelled in an air-rifle marksmanship program supported by a grant from the National Rifle Association Foundation, part of a multimilliondollar effort by the gun group to support youth shooting clubs. Cruz was wearing a maroon shirt with the logo from the Army Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps program at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School when he was arrested Wednesday shortly after the shooting. Former JROTC cadets told The Associated Press that Cruz was a member of the small varsity marksmanship team that trained together after class and travelled to other area schools to compete. “He was a very good shot,” said Aaron Diener, 20, who gave Cruz a ride to shooting competitions when they were part of the same four-member team in 2016.
‘YOU KILLED MY KID!’
A father’s grief and anger boiled over Friday as the first victims of the Florida high school massacre were buried. With more than 1,000 mourners including Gov. Rick Scott packed into Temple K’ol Tikvah, Andrew Pollack looked down at the plain pine coffin of his 18-year-old daughter, Meadow, 13, and then told the crowd: “I am very angry and upset about what transpired.” “You killed my kid!” he yelled, referring to Cruz. “My kid is dead. It goes through my head all day and all night. I keep hearing it. This is just unimaginable that I will never see my princess again.” He briefly paused as mourners, punched by the rawness of his words, began to wail. “I have always been able to protect my family,” he said. “Our kids should be safe but my princess wasn’t safe.” Hunter Pollack, 29, said he had always been overprotective of his younger sister
AN 18-YEAR-OLD WITH AN AK-47 AND AN AR-15 IS COMPLETELY UNREASONABLE. THAT IS A WEAPON THAT IS MEANT FOR DESTRUCTION. IT’S NOT A WEAPON THAT YOU CAN USE TO GO HUNTING. THAT IS A WEAPON … USED IN THE THEATRE OF WAR. — FRANK FERNANDEZ