A tipster warned the FBI in January that she was worried Florida shooting suspect was 'going to explode'

Michelle Mark

  • The person who tipped the FBI off about Nikolas Cruz said she was worried he was "going to explode," according to a transcript obtained by The Wall Street Journal.

  • The FBI admitted last week that it failed to follow protocol in investigating the tip.

  • Cruz allegedly killed 17 people in a mass shooting at a Florida high school last week.

  • The caller said she had also alerted local authorities about Cruz's violent behavior but was unsure what happened to the investigation.

The person who called the FBI's tip line in January to warn them about Nikolas Cruz, the alleged gunman in last week's shooting at a Florida high school, told the agency that he was "going to explode" and "get into a school and just shoot the place up."

According to a transcript obtained by The Wall Street Journal, the caller was worried about Cruz and said she made the call because she "wanted a clear conscience."

Cruz allegedly opened fire with an AR-15 rifle on students and staff at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida last Wednesday, and faces 17 charges for premeditated murder.

Just days after the shooting, the FBI admitted it failed to follow protocols in forwarding the tip to the agency's Miami field office for further investigation.

In the tip, the caller said she believed Cruz had the mental capacity of a 12- or 14-year-old child, and had made a series of disturbing Instagram posts about wanting to kill himself and others.

"Something is gonna happen," she said. "Because he's — he doesn't have the mental capacity. He can't, he's so outraged if someone talks to him about certain things."

She also said during the call that she told local police about Cruz's behavior, but was unsure where their investigation stood.

Local authorities, particularly the Broward County Sheriff's Office, has also come under fire for not taking action against Cruz sooner. Police had visited Cruz's home dozens of times in recent years, in many cases due to his behavior or violent outbursts.

The person who called the FBI detailed a series of disturbing incidents involving Cruz, in which he would become violent with people or harm animals.

"He brought the bird into the house," she said. "He threw it on his mother's kitchen counter and he started cutting it up. He has all kinds of hunting knives. I don't know what knife he used, though. And he started cutting the bird up, and his mother…said, 'What're you doing?' And he says, 'I want to see what's inside.'"

The caller said it was "alarming" to see his Instagram photos and "know what he's capable of doing."

"He's [been] thrown out of all these schools because he would pick up a chair and just throw it at somebody, a teacher or a student, because he didn't like the way they were talking to him," she said.

NOW WATCH: How to make America great — according to one of the three cofounders of Black Lives Matter

See Also:

SEE ALSO: Trump says the armed Florida deputy who failed to confront school shooter 'doesn't love the children'

DON'T MISS: Florida's Republican governor just made a big break with the NRA

Advertisement