Florida school massacre suspect on authorities’ radar in 2016 – Media
PARKLAND, Fla.: A teenager accused of fatally shooting 17 people at a Florida high school was investigated by police and state officials as far back as 2016 after slashing his arm in a social media video, and saying he wanted to buy a gun, but authorities determined he was receiving sufficient support, newspapers said on Saturday.
Nikolas Cruz, 19, is charged with committing multiple murders on Wednesday at the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland.
More than a dozen people also were wounded in the deadliest shooting at a US high school.
The charges can bring the death penalty, but prosecutors have not yet said if they will seek capital punishment.
Days after the killings, a somber series of vigils and funerals were being held in and around Parkland, a Fort Lauderdale suburb of about 32,000 people.
The South Florida Sun Sentinel first reported that a video of Cruz cutting his arm posted to the social media network Snapchat in September 2016 raised concerns among law enforcement and at the Florida Department of Children and Families.
“Mr Cruz stated he plans to go out and buy a gun. It is unknown what he is buying the gun for,” said a report written by department officials after investigators interviewed the teenager, the Sun Sentinel said.
The newspaper reported investigators ultimately decided that Cruz, then 18, was receiving enough support from mental health professionals and from his school, and any risk in his case was low.
The Department of Children and Families (DCF) has asked a court to release the records for transparency, adding it has reviewed the circumstances surrounding the 2016 case.
“Mental health services and supports were in place when this investigation closed,” DCF Secretary Mike Carroll said in a statement. — Reuters