A Mississippi man tells CBS News’ Jeff Pegues that he warned the FBI last September about a social media comment allegedly posted by Florida school shooting suspect Nikolas Cruz. Ben Bennight says he saw a comment on a YouTube video that troubled him and notified the FBI in September, Pegues reports. Nikolas Cruz allegedly commented on Bennight’s YouTube video saying, “I’m going to be a professional school shooter.”
Police say Cruz opened fire with a semi-automatic weapon at Florida high school Wednesday, killing 17 people, injuring 15 and sending hundreds of students fleeing into the streets.
BuzzFeed News first reported that the YouTube vlogger says he made the warning.
Bennight, who BuzzFeed reports is a bail bondsman, spoke with the FBI last year for about 20 minutes, and there was no follow-up from the FBI after that initial conversation, Pegues reports.
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Students react following a shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, a city about 50 miles north of Miami on February 14, 2018.
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Bennight told Pegues he spoke with the FBI Wednesday night again for about 20 minutes. They wanted to know if he knew anything more after first reporting the YouTube video last year. He said the same agent/agents he spoke with last year came to his home Wednesday.
The FBI was not commenting on Thursday morning, CBS News’ Andy Triay reports. BuzzFeed reported that FBI officials would not say whether or not they confirmed the account that left the YouTube comment about being a school shooter belonged to Cruz.
The development comes just hours after Broward County Sheriff Scott Israel urged people to call law enforcement if they see something online “that is not right.”
“Call up the FBI or the Broward Sheriff,” he said. “You could prevent a major tragedy.”
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