Last Updated Feb 16, 2018 4:49 PM EST
PARKLAND, Fla. — The Broward County Sheriff’s Office and the FBI gave an update Friday on the investigation into the mass shooting that left 17 dead and 15 injured Wednesday at Marjory Stoneman Douglas high school in Parkland, Fla. The massacre was the deadliest school shooting in the U.S. in five years.
The suspect, former student Nikolas Cruz, 19, was taken into custody about an hour after the shooting began. Police say he initially evaded authorities by ditching his AR-15 rifle and ammunition and blending in with students fleeing the school. The school resource officer, who is armed, was on campus never encountered the gunman during the shooting, sheriff Scott Israel said. He said the campus is at least 45 acres.
Israel said investigators don’t believe Cruz was targeting anyone during the shooting. Israel said the suspect didn’t have a gas mask during the attack, as had been previously reported. He said investigators did uncover a balaclava, or face mask.
Cruz appeared in court Thursday and was ordered held without bond. On Friday, the FBI admitted it had received a tip about Cruz, but failed to properly investigate it. The tip wasn’t forwarded to the FBI’s Miami field office, the FBI said.
Robert Lasky, FBI special agent in charge of the Miami field office, apologized at the press conference Friday. He said protocol wasn’t followed. He wouldn’t specify who failed to relay the tip, and said that’s under investigation.
“We truly regret any additional pain this has caused,” Lasky said.
There were about 20 calls over the last few years regarding Cruz to the Broward Sheriff’s Office, Israel said. He said he wasn’t sure if any other agencies had received calls.
Israel said each call would be “looked at and scrutinized” and he said he would take appropriate action should he learn his office fell short in response.
“At the end of day, make no mistake about it, America, the only one to blame for this killing is the killer himself,” he said.
Investigators want to learn more about the suspect’s motive and are continuing to investigate his past, Israel said. He said the investigation into Cruz’s digital footprint continues.
“Every day we’re learning more and more about the killer,” Israel said.
Investigators have interviewed almost 3,200 students and more than 200 faculty, Israel said. Seven people remain in the hospital.
The son of a Broward County sheriff’s deputy has been released from the hospital and is expected to recover, Israel said.
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