As details of the Parkland school shooting slowly trickle out, the story grows worse.
Every single sign was there.
Repeatedly, law enforcement officials, both local and federal, failed to respond to repeated warnings that Cruz was going to shoot up a school.
Friday, the New York Times published a transcript of a call made to the FBI on January 5th.
The call lasted 13 minutes and the caller, whose name is redacted, explained “Mr. Cruz had used money from a life insurance policy after his mother’s death to purchase the weapons,” according to the NYT.
The transcript:
Before reaching out to the FBI, the same caller attempted to get in touch with the Broward County Sheriff’s Office, but she didn’t hear back from them.
You would think “he’s so into ISIS” might encourage the FBI to take Cruz seriously. If “there’s a dude that wants to kill people and he’s into ISIS” doesn’t motivate the FBI, what will?
The FBI was not the only law enforcement agency to blow off repeated warnings about Cruz. The Broward County sheriff department blew received 18 calls specifically warning about Cruz from 2008 to 2017.
From Naples Daily News:
Broward County deputies received at least 18 calls warning them about Nikolas Cruz from 2008 to 2017, including concerns that he “planned to shoot up the school” and other threats and acts of violence before he was accused of killing 17 people at a high school.The warnings, made by concerned people close to Cruz, came in phone calls to the Broward County Sheriff’s Office, records show. At least five callers mentioned concern over his access to weapons, according to the documents. None of those warnings led to direct intervention.In February 2016, neighbors told police that they were worried he “planned to shoot up the school” after seeing alarming pictures on Instagram showing Cruz brandishing guns.About two months later, an unidentified caller told police that Cruz had been collecting guns and knives. The caller was “concerned (Cruz) will kill himself one day and believes he could be a school shooter in the making,” according to call details released by the Sheriff’s Office.
Records of those calls are here:
The Coral Springs Police Chief sent an email to officers who were miffed that Broward County was receiving praise and attention for entering the school when it was the Coral Springs PD who did the dirty work.
That email is here:
And now we know why they were ticked. A total of four Broward County Sheriff’s Deputies were outside of the school, weapons drawn, while Cruz was busy murdering 17 people inside. Four.
CNN has that report:
When Coral Springs police officers arrived at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, on February 14 in the midst of the school shooting crisis, many officers were surprised to find not only that Broward County Sheriff’s Deputy Scot Peterson, the armed school resource officer, had not entered the building, but that three other Broward County Sheriff’s deputies were also outside the school and had not entered, Coral Springs sources tell CNN. The deputies had their pistols drawn and were behind their vehicles, the sources said, and not one of them had gone into the school.With direction from the Broward deputies who were outside, Coral Springs police soon entered the building where the shooter was. New Broward County Sheriff’s deputies arrived on the scene, and two of those deputies and an officer from Sunrise, Florida, joined the Coral Springs police as they went into the building.Some Coral Springs police were stunned and upset that the four original Broward County Sheriff’s deputies who were first on the scene did not appear to join them as they entered the school, Coral Springs sources tell CNN. It’s unclear whether the shooter was still in the building when they arrived.What these Coral Springs officers observed — though not their feelings about it — will be released in a report, likely next week. Sources cautioned that tapes are currently being reviewed and official accounts could ultimately differ from recollections of officers on the scene.The resentment among Coral Springs officials toward Broward County officials about what they perceived to be a dereliction of duty may have reached a boiling point at a vigil the night of February 15, where, in front of dozens of others, Coral Springs City Manager Mike Goodrum confronted Broward County Sheriff Scott Israel. A source familiar with the conversation tells CNN that Goodrum was upset that the Broward deputies had remained outside the school while kids inside could have been bleeding out, among other reasons.
Thursday, when news broke that Peterson, the school officer on duty, stayed outside during the shooting, it was also announced that two other officers were placed on restricted assignment pending an investigation. We don’t know if the suspensions were handed down to two of the officers who also remained outside during the bloodbath.
Every step of the way, every single agency involved failed Cruz and failed the innocent lives he took, and the suggested remedy is to deprive law-abiding citizens of the means to protect themselves? Get bent.
If anything, this particular incident proves that only you can protect yourself and your family. No one, especially not the government, will come to your rescue. You are your best defense. And a 9mm helps too.
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