How the FBI handled two tips related to Nikolas Cruz

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The FBI admitted Friday that it received a detailed tip about accused Florida school shooter Nikloas Cruz in January but failed to follow up and investigate.
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The FBI received two tips about Nikolas Cruz, the self-confessed gunman in the Feb. 14 killings at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., but did not act on them.

Here’s what happened:

First tip: Sept. 24, 2017

Ben Bennight, a bail bondsman at AFAB Bail Bonds in D’Iberville, Miss., saw a message on his YouTube channel “BenTheBondsman” from a commenter identifying himself as “nikolas cruz” that read:

“Im going to be a professional school shooter”

Bennight emailed a screenshot of the comment to the FBI.

FBI response (Feb. 15)

Special Agent Rob Lasky, special agent in charge of Miami Division:

“In 2017, the FBI received information about a comment made on a YouTube channel. No other information was included with that comment which would indicate a time, location or the true identity of the person who made the comment. The FBI conducted database reviews, checks, but was unable to further identify the person who actually made the comment.”

Second tip: Jan. 5, 2018

An anonymous person called the FBI’s Public Access Line, located in Clarksburg, W.Va., to warn about Cruz. The person cited concerns 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.”

FBI response (Feb. 16)

The FBI said it did not follow established protocols to follow up.

“Under established protocols, the information provided by the caller should have been assessed as a potential threat to life,” the FBI said.

► More: What you need to know about FBI tip-line that failed in the Florida shooting

“The information was not provided to the Miami Field Office, and no further investigation was conducted at that time,” the FBI statement said.

The Justice Department has ordered a review.

How the FBI’s Tip Line works

Online tips

The online tip line was established after the Sept. 11 attacks. It receives about 100 “actionable” tips every day.

 

1) Those submitting online tips to the bureau fill out an online form and submit it. Tips are accepted for crimes, intelligence-related matters and counterterrorism.

2) The form is transmitted to the FBI’s Public Access Center Unit at the bureau’s headquarters in Washington, D.C.

3) Each tip is reviewed by at least two individuals at every step of the vetting process, the FBI says.

4) Analysts examine all tips for credibility. Additional investigation is assigned if a tip is found to have merit.

5) After a supervisor reviews a tip with merit, it’s entered into the FBI’s eGuardian system, which tracks suspect incidents.

6) Vetted tips are relayed to field agents.

Phone tips

Phoned-in tips are routed to the FBI’s tip center in Clarksburg, W.Va. Tips are assessed and credible ones are forwarded to field offices.

The tip center has more than 150 employees who handled more than 2,100 tips each day in 2017, or about 766,888 calls for the year.

Employees gather information to aid investigations. They learn how to listen and communicate in both classroom training and on-the-job mentoring.

Other red flags for Cruz

Law enforcement: Broward County sheriff’s deputies were called out to the Cruz home about 30 times over the past seven years, according to news reports. 

School officials: Other sources reported that school officials used email to warn teachers of Cruz’s behavior. One teacher said they were told that Cruz should not be allowed on the school campus with a backpack. Cruz was expelled from Stoneman Douglas High in 2017.

Social workers: An investigator with Florida’s Department of Children and Families learned Cruz was cutting himself in late 2016 after breaking up with his girlfriend. The investigator was “concerned about (Cruz’s) talk about wanting to purchase a gun and feeling depressed,” according to the agency’s investigation records.

Health workers: School officials asked Henderson Behavioral Health in Broward County to investigate reports of Cruz had cutting himself and fighting with another student. According to the  DCF on Oct. 7, 2016, a school official reported that Henderson had “determined that (Cruz) was not at risk to harm himself or others.”

Sources: FBI; Naples Daily News (Fla.); Associated Press; USA TODAY research

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Florida girl, 11, found in Georgia hotel room with alleged kidnapper she met in online video game, cops say

Alice Johnson was allegedly found with John Peter Byrns in a hotel room in Georgia.

 (FDLE/Bibb County Sheriff’s Office)

An 11-year-old girl was found safe Sunday after she was allegedly kidnapped by a “child sexual predator” she met while playing a video game and who attempted to take her to his Illinois house before being stopped in Georgia, police said.

Alice Johnson was found safe at a Holiday Inn Express in Georgia about 5 p.m. Sunday, police said. Johnson disappeared sometime after 10 p.m. the night before from her East Orange County home. Her parents reported her missing after her parents went to wake Johnson up for church, but she was nowhere to be seen.

John Peter Byrns, 24, of Hoffman Estates, Ill., was arrested after authorities found him inside the hotel room with Johnson, Bibb County Sheriff’s Office said. Investigators said Byrns and Johnson met while playing the online game Minecraft, WESH reported.

“She was chatting with the individual through a game…within the game you can use a headset to chat with the people you’re actually playing with. So that’s how the first initial contact we believe was made,” an official said in a news conference on Monday.

11-year-old Alice Johnson was found Sunday evening after disappearing from her home in Florida.

 (FDLE)

Police also told WESH that Byrns disguised himself as a female to pull “her into a trap, so to speak.”

Johnson’s parents said they were aware their daughter was talking to an individual from Illinois, but did not know she was in danger at the time. Byrns and the 11-year-old then began talking through the phone. It’s unclear how long they were talking before Sunday’s incident.

Police said Byrns drove from Illinois, picked up Johnson down the street from her Florida house and attempted to bring her back to his home. Authorities are still looking into the incident, including if Johnson was taken against her will and if Byrns abused the girl.

Officials said Johnson was reunited with her parents Sunday night. She appeared to be in good condition and “okay from a physical standpoint.”

“I would say she’s lucky to be alive. She’s lucky that the circumstances are not any worse than what they are,” Orange County Sheriff Jerry Demings said Monday.

He called Byrns a “child sexual predator” based on the 24-year-old’s behavior. Byrns is expected to face charges.

Katherine Lam is a breaking and trending news digital producer for Fox News. Follow her on Twitter at @bykatherinelam

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