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Florida Governor Asks FBI Director To Quit After Agency Admits It Failed To Act On Tip About School Shooter
Florida Governor Rick Scott (R) speak to the media about the mass shooting. (Mark Wilson/Getty Images)
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has admitted that it failed to act on a specific tip it had received about Nikolas Cruz, the teenager who stormed into a South Florida high school and gunned down 17 people in one of the US's deadliest shooting.
A person close to Cruz reached out to the FBI on 5 January to report concerns about him, the FBI said in a statement Friday. But the investigating agency did not follow established protocols in following up on the tip.
In an official statement, FBI admitted that "The caller provided information about Cruz’s gun ownership, desire to kill people, erratic behavior, and disturbing social media posts, as well as the potential of him conducting a school shooting."
“Under established protocols, the information provided by the caller should have been assessed as a potential threat to life. The information then should have been forwarded to the FBI Miami Field Office, where appropriate investigative steps would have been taken," the statement reads.
FBI Director Christopher Wray said that his agency is "still investigating the facts" and is committed to "getting to the bottom of what happened, as well as reviewing our processes for responding to information that we receive from the public."
The FBI Director also said that he has spoken with victims and families, and expressed his deep regret over the additional pain this failure may cause to "those affected by this horrific tragedy." He also reiterated that "all the men and women of the FBI are dedicated to keeping the American people safe, and are relentlessly committed to improving all that we do and how we do it.”
Florida governor Rick Scott has demanded that the FBI director resign immediately for the agency’s failure to investigate a tip on the school shooting suspect.
"The FBI's failure to take action against this killer is unacceptable," Scott said in a statement, adding: "The FBI has admitted that they were contacted last month by a person who called to inform them of Cruz's 'desire to kill people,' and 'the potential of him conducting a school shooting.'
Armed with a legally purchased gun, Cruz had opened fire inside at least five classrooms. The shooting lasted for nearly eight minutes.
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