Pirate's Cove

The Washington Post points out just how badly the system broke down. They note all the red flags and warnings

How a system built to stop the Parkland school shooter repeatedly broke down

The Broward County Sheriff’s Office received a call in November with an ominous warning: Nikolas Cruz, a troubled 19-year-old, was collecting guns and knives and “could be a school shooter in the making.”

It was one of at least four times local or federal authorities were contacted about such a threat linked to Cruz, including a tip the FBI received in January warning that he would “get into a school and just shoot the place up,” according to a transcript of the call obtained by The Post on Friday. Another tip to the sheriff’s office the previous year warned that Cruz “planned to shoot up the school.”

In the era of “see something, say something,” members of the public did just that. But what happened after the November call fit a disturbing pattern in the lead-up to the Parkland, Fla., massacre: No report was filed, and there is no evidence the threat was ever investigated. (snip)

Investigations into mass shootings often reveal warning signs that seem blindingly clear with the benefit of hindsight. But the Parkland shooting has stood out for the sheer scale of how many alarms were raised before the Feb. 14 rampage.

There are dueling narratives over whether his guns could be taken away or he could have been involuntarily committed under Florida’s Baker Act. Regardless, all the signs were there, and action was not taken.

Law enforcement officials have drawn intense criticism for lapses involving Cruz. The FBI said it failed to investigate the January warning about concerns that he wanted to kill people, owned guns and could carry out a school shooting.

This person told the FBI that she worried Cruz was “going to explode,” a federal law enforcement official said Friday. Details of her call were first reported by the Wall Street Journal, which reviewed a transcript of the call. A federal law enforcement official confirmed the information to The Washington Post.

One has to wonder if local law enforcement, including the Broward Sheriff’s Office, were notified. They were called to other disturbances, and the school resource officer, who failed to do his job and go into the school when the shooting started, may have done nothing with the information.

In November, a caller alerted the Broward County Sheriff’s Office that Cruz was collecting guns and knives, wanted to join the Army, may commit suicide and could be a school shooter. Authorities have not identified the caller, except to say they called from Massachusetts.

The Broward County Sheriff’s Office said this week that no report was filed on that call. After the Stoneman Douglas shooting, a deputy said he referred the caller to the Palm Beach Sheriff’s Office, but a spokeswoman for that office said they were never told of that threat. The Broward County Sheriff’s Office said it launched an internal investigation into the call but declined to provide further details about what happened after, citing the ongoing internal affairs investigation.

I’m just taking snippets out of the article for the overall failure of law enforcement at multiple levels (and we’re not even sure if the Florida state police ever were involved and failed) to take some sort of action. But, of course

Robert Bonczek (a 17 year old student at the school where Cruz went murderous) said most students are focusing not on blame, but with channeling their anger to press for changes to laws regulating guns.

“The FBI didn’t do their job, but it’s hard to do anything about that,” he said. “But with Congress, we can specifically make calls for change.”

See? This is the narrative. People failed to take action with a constant litany of credible threats, but, hey, it’s the gun’s fault, so, let’s pass more laws to disarm the law abiding citizens who won’t be turning into unhinged murderers.

I mean, we have kids suspended and kicked out of school for making finger guns, biting Pop Tarts into the shape of a gun, bringing in army men with fake plastic guns, bringing in water pistols. Kids have been told they can’t wear Army and Marines shirts. Yet, no one did anything about Cruz. But, we’ll try and take your guns in the meantime.

Read: The System To Stop The Parkland Shooter Completely Broke Down, But Let’s Blame The NRA »

Did you hear about this one?

(Miami Herald) Eight days after mass shooter Nikolas Cruz murdered 17 people inside Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, Broward’s top cop on Thursday revealed a stunning series of failures by the sheriff’s department.

A school campus cop heard the gunfire, rushed to the building but never went inside — instead waiting outside for another four agonizing minutes as Cruz continued the slaughter.

And long before Cruz embarked on the worst school shooting in Florida history, Broward Sheriff’s Office deputies had multiple warnings that the 19-year-old was a violent threat and a potential school shooter, according to records released Thursday.

In November, a tipster called BSO to say Cruz “could be a school shooter in the making” but deputies did not write up a report on that warning. It came just weeks after a relative called urging BSO to seize his weapons. Two years ago, according to a newly released timeline of interactions with Cruz’s family, a deputy investigated a report that Cruz “planned to shoot up the school” — intelligence that was forwarded to the school’s resource officer, with no apparent result.

The school’s resource officer, Scot Peterson, 54, was suspended without pay then immediately resigned and retired. Two other deputies have been placed on restricted duty while Internal Affairs investigates how they handled the two shooter warnings. (snip)

Peterson — named school resource officer of the year for Parkland in 2014 — was in another building, dealing with a student issue when the shots sounded. Armed with his sidearm, Peterson ran to the west side of Building 12 and set up in a defensive position, then did nothing for four minutes until the gunfire stopped, the sheriff said.

On Thursday, Israel said surveillance footage captured the officer’s inaction. Asked what Peterson should have done, Israel said: “Went in. Addressed the killer. Killed the killer.”

And then there’s this

(Business Leader) Deputies from the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s office are guarding the home of the school resource officer who was stationed at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School after his family requested the protection, according to multiple news reports on Thursday.

Local Fox affiliate WSVN said it sent a reporter to the Boynton Beach, Florida, home of Broward County Sheriff’s deputy Scot Peterson for an interview when the reporter was met with six deputies “standing guard outside.”

One man gets six armed law enforcement officers. An entire school gets one. Who failed to act as gunfire rang out in the school.

As far as arming teachers, here’s an idea. First, allow retired military members and police officers who have experience with guns to serve as protection officers. I bet there are plenty of granddads who would be up for it. Second, allow teachers to be armed if they choose. They’d have to go through a background check and a firearms safety course, as well as be trained in the use of the gun.

Stress to teachers that they do not even have to load the weapon if they are uncomfortable (bear with me a minute, I know what you’re thinking). Allow them to carry one of those fake pistols that look utterly realistic. Some will open carry, some will concealed carry. The point here is not to shoot someone, but to deter a wacko from coming to the school looking for an easy murder spree. This would apply to all schools, all the way up through colleges. Deterrence.

If you’re banning guns, you’re taking them away from the law abiding. Criminals will still have theirs. Let’s allow schools to have the same protection the failed officer is getting.

Read: Armed Officer Never Went In During Parkland Shooting, Now Getting More Protection Than Schoolkids »