Sheriff says office got 20 calls about suspected school shooter in recent years

A sheriff said Friday that his office received around 20 calls about Nikolas Cruz, the 19-year-old suspect in this week’s shooting at a Florida high school that left 17 people dead and wounded more than a dozen others.

Broward County Sheriff Scott Israel told reporters that his office had uncovered “approximately 20” 911 calls relating to Cruz over the last few years, and that his office would investigate how those calls were handled.

“We have uncovered at the Broward Sheriff’s Office that we’ve had approximately 20 calls for service over the last few years regarding the killer,” Israel said. “Every one of these calls for service will be looked at and scrutinized.”

“If we find out, like in any investigation, that one of our deputies or call-takers could have done something better or was remiss, I’ll handle it accordingly,” he added.

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Israel added that seven wounded people remained in the hospital following Wednesday’s shooting.

The sheriff’s comments follow an admission from the FBI earlier Friday that the bureau failed to follow standard “protocols” when it received a tip about Cruz to a national hotline earlier this year.

“Under established protocols, the information provided by the caller should have been assessed as a potential threat to life,” the FBI said in a statement. “The information then should have been forwarded to the FBI Miami field office, where appropriate investigative steps would have been taken.”

“We have determined that these protocols were not followed for the information received by the [Public Access Line] on January 5. The information was not provided to the Miami field office, and no further investigation was conducted at that time,” the FBI said.

The FBI’s admission has prompted criticism from lawmakers in both parties, including Florida Gov. Rick Scott (R), who called for FBI Director Christopher Wray to resign.

“The FBI’s failure to take action against this killer is unacceptable,” Scott said in a statement. “The FBI Director needs to resign.”