The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Officials wanted Cruz committed
Shooting suspect recommended for evaluation in 2016.
MIAMI — Officials were so concerned about the mental stability of the student accused of last month’s Florida school massacre that they decided he should be forcibly committed.
But the recommendation was never acted upon.
A commitment under the law would have made it more difficult, if not impossible, for Nikolas Cruz to obtain a gun legally.
Cruz is accused of the shooting rampage that killed 14 students and three school employees at Mar
jory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland on Feb. 14. In addition, 17 people were wounded.
But more than a year earlier, documents in the crimi- nal case against Nikolas Cruz and obtained by The Associated Press show school offi- cials and a sheriff ’s deputy recommended in September 2016 that Cruz be involuntarily committed for a mental evaluation.
The documents, which are part of Cruz’s criminal case in the shooting, show that he had written the word “kill” in a notebook, told a classmate that he wanted to buy a gun and use it, and had cut his arm supposedly in anger because he had broken up with a girlfriend. He also told another student he had drunk gasoline and was throwing up. Calls had even been made to the FBI about the possibility of Cruz using a gun at school.
The documents were pro- vided by a psychological assessment service initiated by Cruz’s mother called Henderson Behavioral Health. The documents show a
high school resource officer who was also a sher- iff ’s deputy and two school counselors recommended in September 2016 that Cruz be committed for mental evaluation under Florida’s Baker Act. That law allows for involuntary commitment for mental health examina- tion for at least three days.
Such an involuntary com- mitment would also have been a high obstacle if not a complete barrier to legally
obtaining a firearm, such as the AR-15 rifle used in the Stoneman Douglas massacre on Feb. 14, authorities say.
There is no evidence Cruz was ever committed.
Coincidentally, the school resource officer who recommended that Cruz be “Baker Acted” was Scot Peterson —
the same Broward Sheriff ’s Office deputy who resigned amid accusations he failed to respond to the shooting by staying outside the building where the killings occurred.
David S. Weinstein, a for- mer federal prosecutor, said that an involuntary commit- ment would have been a huge red flag had Cruz attempted to buy a firearm legally.
“If he had lied, hopefully the verification of the form would have pulled up the commitment paperwork,” Weinstein said.
The documents do not say why Cruz was not committed under the Baker Act or whether he may not have qualified for other reasons.
The law allows a law enforcement officer such as Peterson to initiate commitment under the Baker Act. An attorney for Peterson
did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment Sunday.
Cruz, 19, is charged in a 34-count indictment with killing 17 people and wounding 17 others in the attack.
He faces the death penalty if convicted, but his public defender Melisa McNeill has said he would plead guilty in return for a life prison sentence.
It’s not clear from the doc
uments who the recommendation was forwarded to or why it was not acted upon.