Shock, Anger After Florida Teen Charged With 17 Counts Of Murder; FBI Was Warned

Update: FBI INVESTIGATED SCHOOL SHOOTING THREAT MADE ON YOUTUBE LAST YEAR BUT COULD NOT IDENTIFY PERSON BEHIND IT - FBI AGENT IN CHARGE OF FLORIDA SCHOOL SHOOTING PROBE

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Nikolas Cruz, the 19-year-old orphan with a troubled past, a fascination with weapons and resistance groups, and an AR-15 rifle, was charged with 17 counts of premeditated murder Thursday morning after being questioned for hours by state and federal authorities following the deadliest school shooting in the U.S. in five years.

Nikolas Cruz

Fourteen wounded survivors were hospitalized as bodies were recovered from inside and around Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, the AP reports.

Nikolas Cruz, still wearing a hospital gown after being treated for labored breathing, and weighing in at 5-foot-7 and 131 pounds, was ordered held without bond and booked into jail.

Cruz's former classmates thought they were having another drill Wednesday afternoon when a fire alarm sounded, requiring them to file out of their classrooms. That's when Cruz, equipped with a gas mask, smoke grenades and multiple magazines of ammunition, opened fire with a semi-automatic weapon, killing 17 people and sending hundreds of students fleeing into the streets.

It was the nation's deadliest school shooting since a gunman attacked an elementary school in Newtown, Connecticut, more than five years ago.

"Our district is in a tremendous state of grief and sorrow," said Robert Runcie, superintendent of the school district in Parkland, about an hour's drive north of Miami. "It is a horrible day for us."

Victoria Olvera, a 17-year-old junior at the school, said Cruz was expelled last school year because he got into a fight with his ex-girlfriend's new boyfriend. She said he had been abusive to his girlfriend.

"I think everyone had in their minds if anybody was going to do it, it was going to be him," she said.

Cruz was captured not long after Wednesday's attack in Florida; Michael Nembhard was sitting in his garage on a cul-de-sac when he saw a young man in a burgundy shirt walking down the street. In an instant, a police cruiser pulled up, and officers jumped out with guns drawn.

"All I heard was 'Get on the ground! Get on the ground!'" Nembhard said. He said Cruz did as he was told.

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While authorities offered no immediate details about Cruz or his possible motive, they said that he had been kicked out of the high school, which has about 3,000 students. Students who knew him described a volatile teenager whose strange behavior had caused others to end friendships with him.

Cruz's mother Lynda Cruz died of pneumonia on Nov. 1 neighbors, friends and family members said, according to the Sun Sentinel. Cruz and her husband, who died of a heart attack several years ago, adopted Nikolas and his biological brother, Zachary, after the couple moved from Long Island in New York to Broward County.

The boys were left in the care of a family friend after their mother died, family member Barbara Kumbatovich, of Long Island, said.

Unhappy there, Nikolas Cruz asked to move in with a friend's family in northwest Broward. The family agreed and Cruz moved in around Thanksgiving.

According to the family's lawyer, who did not identify them, they knew that Cruz owned the AR-15 but made him keep it locked up in a cabinet. He did have the key, however. According to the Daily News, Cruz legally bought the AR-15 he used to wage war on innocents at his former school, according to an attorney for the family with which he lived.

“It was his gun,” family lawyer Jim Lewis said. “The family made him keep it in a locked gun cabinet in the house but he had a key.” Lewis added that the family is devastated and didn't see this coming. They are cooperating with authorities, he said.

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Cruz was taken into custody without a fight about an hour after the shooting in a residential neighborhood about a mile away. He had multiple magazines of ammunition, authorities said.

"It's catastrophic. There really are no words," said Broward County Sheriff Scott Israel.

Frantic parents rushed to the school to find SWAT team members and ambulances surrounding the huge campus and emergency workers who appeared to be treating the wounded on sidewalks. Students who hadn't run began leaving in a single-file line with their hands over their heads as officers urged them to evacuate quickly.

Hearing loud bangs as the shooter fired, many of the students inside hid under desks or in closets, and barricaded doors.

"We were in the corner, away from the windows," said freshman Max Charles, who said he heard five gunshots. "The teacher locked the door and turned off the light. I thought maybe I could die or something."

As he was leaving the building, he saw four dead students and one dead teacher. He said he was relieved when he finally found his mother.

"I was happy that I was alive," Max said. "She was crying when she saw me."

Noah Parness, a 17-year-old junior, said he and the other students calmly went outside to their fire-drill areas when he suddenly heard popping sounds.

"We saw a bunch of teachers running down the stairway, and then everybody shifted and broke into a sprint," Parness said. "I hopped a fence."

Most of the fatalities were inside the building, though some victims were found fatally shot outside, the sheriff said.

Sen. Bill Nelson told CNN that Cruz had pulled the fire alarm "so the kids would come pouring out of the classrooms into the hall."

"And there the carnage began," said Nelson, who said he was briefed by the FBI.

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Meanwhile, in what may emerge as the latest black spot on the FBI's reptuation, BuzzFeed reported  that the FBI had been warned about Cruz' homicidal tendencies:

Last fall, a Mississippi bail bondsman and frequent YouTube vlogger noticed an alarming comment left on one of his videos. "I'm going to be a professional school shooter," said a user named Nikolas Cruz.

The YouTuber, 36-year-old Ben Bennight, alerted the FBI, emailing a screenshot of the comment to the bureau's tips account. He also flagged the comment to YouTube, which removed it from the video.

Agents with the bureau's Mississippi field office got back to him "immediately," Bennight said, and conducted an in-person interview the following day, on Sept. 25.

"They came to my office the next morning and asked me if I knew anything about the person," Bennight told BuzzFeed News. "I didn't. They took a copy of the screenshot and that was the last I heard from them."

FBI agents contacted Bennight again Wednesday, after a 19-year-old named Nikolas Cruz allegedly opened fire at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in South Florida, killing at least 17 people.

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Though his name matches the YouTube user flagged in September, FBI officials would not say whether they have confirmed that the account belonged to Cruz.

But around 4:30 p.m. on Wednesday — about 30 minutes after Cruz was taken into custody by police in Broward County — Special Agent Ryan Furr with the FBI's Miami field office called Bennight and left him a voicemail.

When contacted by BuzzFeed News, FBI special agent Furr declined to comment on the call, and directed questions about the shooting to the FBI's public affairs office. The office did did not respond to multiple calls or emails Wednesday night.

The Nikolas Cruz YouTube account remained active until Wednesday evening. It has since been deleted, however, due to "multiple or severe violations of YouTube's policy on violence." YouTube did not immediately respond to BuzzFeed News' questions about the account.

In the wake of the deadly shooting, questions have emerged over whether authorities, officials and acquaintances had missed warning signs about the alleged shooter, and why this clearly troubled teenager was allowed to slip through the cracks.

Comments

JimmyJones shivura Thu, 02/15/2018 - 09:55 Permalink

This Zerohedger is not on board with the minority on here that think all Jews are trying to take over the world.  I am against Zionist, Not all Jews are Zionist and not all Zionist are Jews.  My dentist isn't plotting on taking over the world through fiat banking.

So have we found out what Anti-depressants this guy was on yet?  This has Pills written all over it.

In reply to by shivura

Klassenfeind stizazz Thu, 02/15/2018 - 11:44 Permalink

"The FBI Was Warned."

Well, so was the entire US populace, but they chose to love their guns more than common sense.

Just allow almost any nutcase to get their hands on guns and ammo, without any regulations, mandatory training or restrictions, "because the bad guys have guns too." What can possibly go wrong? (/sarc)

In reply to by stizazz

Mr. Universe Klassenfeind Thu, 02/15/2018 - 11:55 Permalink

This looks like all the other BS they come up with. Someone comes in, were they wearing the gas mask mentioned? If so, who can ID the perp? Then the guy gets away and is found "walking down the street" where he is taken into custody, pumped up with drugs and will probably never be allowed another clear thought. Meanwhile the story will change at least 5 times in the next 5 days and people who witnessed anything will either have an accident or change their tune. This was just another shadow state attack in order to head us towards a total police state.

In reply to by Klassenfeind

Bubba Rum Das Mr. Universe Thu, 02/15/2018 - 12:42 Permalink

AMBULANCE CHALLENGE! AMBULANCE CHALLENGE! AMBULANCE CHALLENGE!

A new game, called Ambulance Challenge!

That's right, boy's & girls, a NEW GAME!

How do you play? Simple.
Go on the internet & search for photos of actual ambulance pictures  taken at the scene of the Florida School Shooting (file photos & photos from other areas of the U.S. & duplicate photos DO NOT COUNT in this game...), & count them.

I have come up w/ a total of FOUR yes FOUR ambulances in the pictures I have found.
This includes both Fire Emergency Paramedic Vehicles and Commercial Ambulances...

Just for fun, you might want to also look for blood in any of the pictures...On clothes of the supposedly wounded people, dead bodies, on the ground, NONE COULD I FIND AT THIS SHOOTING. NOT EVEN STAGE BLOOD.

WITH 17 DEAD & OVER 20 WOUNDED YOU WOULD THINK THERE WOULD BE MORE THAN 4 AMBULANCES SHOWN IN MEDIA PHOTOS AND AT LEAST A LITTLE BLOOD SOMEWHERE...

In reply to by Mr. Universe

Abaco Klassenfeind Thu, 02/15/2018 - 13:24 Permalink

Let's see.  A hundred million gun owners very few of which ever use a gun for criminal purposes.

A relatively small number of mass shootings almost all of which involve a shooter being given SSRI's.

Idiot's like you shouting out ad infinitum that the shootings result from the availability of guns and refuse to even look into the effects of SSRI's.

Too many fucking idiot's who think they should spout off on any topic without even the most basic capacity for reason.

 

In reply to by Klassenfeind

verumcuibono King of Ruperts Land Thu, 02/15/2018 - 11:27 Permalink

That's a pretty good check list, although there is a lot more to check off. It's important to do that from day 1 of MSM coverage. Here's another good graphic.

It's important to keep in mind that real tragedy and deaths and events can happen in false flag events, too.

This lady cracks me up but shows the image of and talks about False Flag Bingo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ApqMo5dJNcQ&t=66s

In reply to by King of Ruperts Land

GoingBig Winston Churchill Thu, 02/15/2018 - 11:57 Permalink

How can you people actually think Sandy Hook was a hoax? Are you stupid? Are you retarded? or is it both? Or do just blindly believe the shit that infowars puts out? 

Its like you live on a different planet and don't know how people socialize and react. Let me give you a fucking clue, almost all conspiracies are complete bullshit because when you get a group of 3 people together, at least one of them will start talking to others!

In reply to by Winston Churchill

verumcuibono GoingBig Thu, 02/15/2018 - 12:44 Permalink

You sound very sincere so I'll try a sincere response.

"Conspiracy theory” is a phrase that, in its original use means the illegal conspiring between two or more confederated people with the goal of something illegal.

But back in ‘60s "conspiracy" was co-opted and weaponized by CIA as part of their psych warfare strategies (as evidenced in early FOIA docs--before Reagan destroyed the value of FOIA--and info you can find in CIA docs on their website--they don't really try to hide this stuff anymore) outlining CIA's role as a psych warfare. Through these strategies, the term was manipulated to imply “false, fictional, lunacy” - tactics to attack, humiliate, bully, shame questioners of the "official government" narrative of major events or issues, especially regarding the JFK assassination.

I's been PERFECTED BY TODAY'S MSM PROPAGANDISTS for just about ANYTHING that disagrees with the official narrative -vaccine program, 9/11, GMOs, financial markets, false flags, pedophilia, fake news about fake news... you name it. It's sealed and silence once regular people start following these "conspiracy" charged memes.

You go back in history and you can see how these patterns start to develop. It's fascinating--and horrifying and takes a LONG time especially if you're trying to catch up, which is what I've been doing the past 4 yrs.

When Sandy Hook happened, I remember sitting at my desk watching the news unfold and I specifically remember how MSM tried to turn stories of tragedy into human interest pieces on primetime. I knew NOTHING about MSM propaganda at that time--I was too busy working 100 hr wks and having fun. So, out of my stupidity and niavity, I had no reason to suspect "false"-anything at the time. I hadn't ever heard the term "false flag".

But I distinctly remember watching this and feeling uncomfortable--feeling like something was wrong with what I was watching - it didn't feel real. And because of that very odd feeling, I kept watching thinking maybe I just needed more info... it never came and I finally stopped watching anything Sandy-hook related on TV. I'm so proud that my spidey senses were more finely tuned than I realized, and so frustrated with myself that I didn't pay more attention to it. Took me another 3 yrs before I was forced to stop working due to an illness and had a bunch of time on my hands... and that's when my research into TRUTH started.

So, in response to your questions, I have to ask you - what have you done to seriously study the MSM version of Sandy Hook, vs the truther version? You cannot understand the event nor the criticisms of it until you have done that. Are you willing to commit the time and effort to do that? Because truth isn't convenient.

In reply to by GoingBig

verumcuibono Yogizuna Thu, 02/15/2018 - 13:38 Permalink

I went from being very clueless about false flags to intuitively knowing something was wrong with what I was seeing. I spent most of the prior 10 yrs w/out a TV. I was living in NYC--who needs a boob tube when you're in the city that never sleeps?

I admit I was clueless. But my intuition was alert.

There are plenty of really good researcher sites out there that do a great job of itemizing the issues with the Sandy Hook event and the MSM coverage of it.  Even after having that initial bullshit meter pinged very loudly, I didn't know enough about false flags to suspect anything and it wasn't until I started looking into it---after going WAY THE FUCK down the 9/11 rabbit hole. And that's when I was enlightened.

I personally don't know WHAT happened at Sandy Hook but I am 100% certain it was not what was portrayed on MSM.

So, I challenge you to defend why you believe MSM.

In reply to by Yogizuna