Florida AG urges social media vigilance after school shooting

Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi (R) is calling for students and parents to be more vigilant about potential threats made on social media following the Florida high school shooting, saying it’s better to report something that’s later deemed not credible than not report it at all.

“If all our kids are on Snapchat, Instagram, Facebook, and if your child sees something, they have to take it seriously,” Bondi told radio host John Catsimatidis on New York’s AM 970. “I’d rather you call it in as a parent or as a child and be wrong 100 percent of the time than not call it in.”

Bondi’s comments came days after a gunman opened fire on Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., leaving 17 people dead and 14 others injured. 

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The suspected shooter was identified as 19-year-old Nikolas Cruz, a former student at the school who had been expelled for disciplinary reasons. Cruz was charged Thursday with 17 counts of premeditated murder.

Bondi recalled spending time with the families of victims in the aftermath of the shooting. 

“The night it happened, it was horrific,” she said. “We were there until about 3:30 in the morning, having to tell these families that their child was murdered, and it’s just been absolutely horrible.”

In the hours and days after the shooting, an image of Cruz as a disturbed teenager obsessed with guns and violence has surfaced through reported social media posts and the accounts of fellow students. 

The FBI acknowledged on Friday that it had received a tip from a person close to Cruz in January expressing concern that the teenager could potentially carry out a school shooting, warning about his gun ownership and desire to kill.

The FBI said that it failed to follow its own protocol after receiving the tip. It never investigated the claims, nor did it pass the information on to the FBI field office in Miami.