Officials recommended forcibly committing Florida shooting suspect in 2016

Officials had recommended that accused Florida shooter Nikolas Cruz be forcibly committed for a mental evaluation in 2016 but no one acted on the recommendation, The Associated Press reported.

Cruz — who is charged with carrying out the Florida school shooting last month that left 17 dead and multiple others wounded — would have had a harder time obtaining a gun legally if he had been committed.

Documents obtained by the AP show that a high school resource officer and two school counselors recommended in 2016 that Cruz be committed under Florida’s Baker Act, which allows people to be involuntarily committed for a mental health examination for a minimum of three days.

The resource officer was Scot Peterson, the sheriff’s deputy who resigned following accusations that he did not respond adequately to the shooting when he stayed outside of the building where the shooting was taking place.

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The documents that are part of Cruz’s criminal case show that he had told a classmate he wanted to buy and use a gun. He had also cut his arm after a breakup and wrote the word “kill” in a notebook, the AP reported.

A number of calls had been made to the FBI expressing fear that Cruz might be dangerous.

Despite the signs and the recommendation to commit Cruz, there is no evidence that he was ever committed.

Cruz has been charged with 34 counts and could face the death penalty. His lawyer had said he would plead guilty in exchange for a sentence of life in prison, but a Broward County judge entered a not guilty plea on Wednesday after Cruz pleaded mute.

Prosecutors have said they will seek the death penalty for Cruz.