Nikolas Cruz, the 19-year-old who allegedly confessed to killing 17 people at a Parkland, Florida high school on Wednesday, was investigated by state authorities in 2016 after he filmed himself cutting his own arms on Snapchat and saying he wanted to buy a gun.
Cruz posted the video on the social media app in September 2016, 17 months before he allegedly entered the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School and used an AR-15 assault rifle to kill 17 others on Wednesday.
He posted the Snapchat clip just days after turning 18 year of age and shortly after he broke up with his girlfriend ‘who was cheating on him,’ his mother told investigators.
The news was first reported on Saturday by the Broward County-based South Florida Sun Sentinel newspaper.
Nikolas Cruz, the 19-year-old who allegedly confessed to killing 17 people at a Parkland, Florida high school on Wednesday, was investigated by state authorities in 2016 after he filmed himself cutting his own arms on Snapchat and saying he wanted to buy a gun
In Florida, 18 is the legal age at which buying a rifle or a shotgun is legal.
After posting the disturbing video, Cruz was investigated by sheriff’s deputies as well as officials from welfare authorities and the state Department of Children and Family Services.
Though he was classified as a vulnerable person suffering from mental illness, the state came to the conclusion that Cruz was being adequately cared for as an outpatient at a local mental health facility.
That means they saw no need to have him committed to a mental health facility.
The revelation shows that all levels of government – state, local, and federal – were aware of Cruz’s potential to do harm.
The FBI acknowledged on Friday that it ignored a tip last month from a person close to Cruz who said that Cruz owned a gun and that he had spoken of carrying out a school shooting.
Someone who knew Cruz called the FBI’s national tip line on January 5 and expressed concern about his ‘gun ownership, desire to kill people, erratic behavior, and disturbing social media posts, as well as the potential of him conducting a school shooting, according to the bureau.
Officials said the information should have been forwarded to the FBI field office in Miami.
Attorney General Jeff Sessions ordered an investigation into how the matter was handled by both the FBI and the Justice Department.
‘Mr. Cruz has fresh cuts on both his arms,’ the DCF report reads.
‘Mr. Cruz stated he plans to go out and buy a gun. It is unknown what he is buying the gun for.’
Though he was classified as a vulnerable person suffering from mental illness, the state came to the conclusion that Cruz was being adequately cared for as an outpatient at a local mental health facility
Five months after the Snapchat video, Cruz bought the AR-15 which was allegedly used in Wednesday’s massacre.
The report on Cruz stated that he the ‘final level of risk’ was ‘low.’
‘[Cruz’s] final level of risk is low as [he] resides with his mother, attends school and receives counseling through Henderson,’ the DCF report states.
Cruz’s lawyer, Melisa McNeill, who is the Broward County assistant public defender assigned to the case, said the report is further proof that the authorities failed not just her client but also the victims of Wednesday’s shooting and their families.
‘All of this could have been prevented,’ said McNeill.
Cruz’s mother, Lynda (seen above with Nikolas as a baby in this undated photo), told state investigators in September 2016 that her son had broken up with a girlfriend who was ‘cheating on him’
‘It makes me sick to my stomach because there are 17 people, including numerous children, who are dead and several others who are injured.’
After the Snapchat video, four agencies were alerted about Cruz – the DCF, the Broward County Sheriff’s Office, the Broward school district, and Henderson Behavioral Health, one of the largest providers of mental health services in the country, according to the Sun Sentinel.
‘Every single red flag was being thrown up by this kid, four days after his 18th birthday, and nothing was done to help him,’ said the chief assistant public defender, Gordon Weekes.
‘This community has been devastated. The system didn’t only fail him, it failed the entire community.’
After the video, Cruz’s mother, Lynda Cruz, told investigators that her son had been diagnosed with autism and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, for which he was taking medication.
He had also been treated for depression.
At the time of the investigation, it was not clear if he was still on medication.
Cruz’s mother told investigators that she and the mother of his girlfriend both said at the time that it was best to end the relationship because it was ‘unhealthy for everyone.’
She also told investigators at the time that her son did not have a gun, though she did take away an air gun he owned because he was misbehaving.
Lynda Cruz also told state investigators that her son had ‘hate signs’ including the Nazi swastika and words ‘I hate n*****s’ drawn on his book bag.
This photo posted on the Instagram account of Nikolas Cruz shows weapons lying on a bed. Cruz had spoken about his desire to buy a gun just days after he turned 18 years of age – which is the legal age to buy a rifle or shotgun in Florida
She said at the time that she forced her son to remove the symbols and that her family was not racist.
Last November, Lynda Cruz died of pneumonia at the age of 68.
After Nikolas Cruz got into a fight at school with another boy over a girl, a school counselor told investigators that a mobile crisis unit was called ‘and determined he was not at risk to harm himself or others.’
Officials from Henderson who were called to the school concluded that Cruz was ‘stable enough not to be hospitalized.’
A DCF spokesperson said: ‘Based on the information at this time, this individual had no involvement with Florida’s child welfare system, including foster care.
‘Other information related to this individual as an adult is confidential.
‘According to Florida law, a court must order the release of these records.
‘In the spirit of full transparency, the department has petitioned the court to be allowed to release any and all records we have on this individual.’
The FBI also missed another key warning sign months before receiving the information on its tip line.
An early morning fog rises where 17 memorial crosses were placed, for the 17 deceased students and faculty from the Wednesday shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, in Parkland, Florida on Saturday
In September, they were alerted to a comment made by YouTube user ‘Nikolas Cruz’ proclaiming his desire to be a ‘professional school shooter.’
At the same time he was posting photos to his public social media account which showed off an arsenal of weapons, including multiple semi-automatic guns.
And he had not only joined the white nationalist group Republic of Florida but also begun participating in paramilitary training exercises with the organization.
All this, along with the fact that he had know mental health struggles and three school expulsions, was not enough to land Cruz on the FBI’s radar.