Florida Gov. Rick Scott (R.) on Friday demanded that FBI Director Christopher Wray resign after the bureau admitted that it failed to act after receiving a tip last month about the suspected Florida shooter being armed and wanting to kill people.
The FBI released a statement on Friday admitting that the agency received a tip on Jan. 5 regarding Nikolas Cruz, the 19-year-old charged with murdering 17 people at a high school in Parkland, Florida on Wednesday. The tip, from someone close to the suspected shooter, "provided information about Cruz's gun ownership, desire to kill people, erratic behavior, and disturbing social media posts, as well as the potential of him conducting a school shooting."
Normally that information would have been fast-tracked to the Miami field office, but the FBI statement said that "protocols were not followed" and that nobody followed up on the information that was relayed.
"We have spoken with victims and families, and deeply regret the additional pain this causes all those affected by this horrific tragedy," Wray said in the statement. "All of the men and women of the FBI are dedicated to keeping the American people safe, and are relentlessly committed to improving all that we do and how we do it."
In response to the FBI's admission, Scott released his own statement calling on Wray to resign.
"The FBI's failure to take action against this killer is unacceptable," Scott said. "The FBI has admitted that they were contacted last month by a person who called to inform them of Cruz's 'desire to kill people,' and 'the potential of him conducting a school shooting.'"
"Seventeen innocent people are dead and acknowledging a mistake isn't going to cut it," Scott continued. "An apology will never bring these 17 Floridians back to life or comfort the families who are in pain. The families will spend a lifetime wondering how this could happen, and an apology will never give them the answers they desperately need."
Scott then demanded that Wray resign, saying that his bureau "failed to act."
"We constantly promote 'see something, say something,' and a courageous person did just that to the FBI. And the FBI failed to act," Scott said. "'See something, say something' is an incredibly important tool and people must have confidence in the follow through from law enforcement. The FBI Director needs to resign."