FBI Deputy Director David Bowdich says the agency is taking steps to strengthen oversight of its tip line and improve communication between federal, state, and local offices after a number of failings that preceded the deadly mass shooting last month in Parkland, Florida.
Bowdich briefed Republican Reps. Bob Goodlatte and Trey Gowdy this week on new details about the red flags that were missed before the suspected gunman, Nikolas Cruz, opened fire on Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School on February 14, killing 17 people.
Gowdy, who chairs the House Oversight Committee, and Goodlatte, who heads the House Judiciary Committee, outlined some of the takeaways from their meeting with Bowdich in a joint press release published on Wednesday.
Among them, it notes that an internet tip reported to the FBI in September 2017 highlighted a YouTube account named “nikolas cruz,” which had written the comment, “I am going to be a professional school shooter,” in response to a video.
An FBI field office in Mississippi handled that tip. Staffers there never asked Google for help to positively identify the person behind the YouTube account after having determined that “the United States Attorney’s Office in that region was unlikely to agree to such a request.”
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