A news report has shown that Florida police were called to Parkland shooting lead suspect Nikolas Cruz’s home a total of 45 times.
At the time of Cruz’s arrest following the shooting of 17 students at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, reports initially suggested Broward County officers had been called to Cruz’s home 39 times.
After that, the figure fell to 23, according to Sheriff Scott Israel, who said the number 39 was ‘simply not true’.
But according to CNN, cops were reportedly called to the family home a total of 45 times over the last decade – prior to his mother’s death.
When his mother died, Cruz and his brother moved in with family friends, and the police calls to the family home stopped.
Each listed police call has unique identifying features, including a serial number, as well as date and time of the call.
The descriptions in the call logs include mentions of a ‘mentally ill person’, ‘child/elderly abuse’, ‘domestic disturbance’, ‘missing person’, and more.
According to CNN, the records show that at least 19 of the 45 calls were related to Nikolas Cruz, from as young as 9 years old.
An additional 25 calls were in relation to Nikolas’ younger brother Zachary, for a variety of indiscretions.
Several calls involving Nikolas were not originally cited on the list of 39 calls, but were in a separate document which was released by the sheriff’s office last week.
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In the call log, there are descriptions of Nikolas Cruz fighting with his brother, arguing with his mother, and throwing her against the wall for taking away his Xbox.
According to CNN, the reports ‘worsen’ over time, and in 2014, a caller accused him of shooting a chicken with a BB gun.
In 2016, a neighbour told the sheriff’s office about an Instagram post in which Cruz ‘planned to shoot up the school’, and urged them to intervene.
She said she was told there was nothing the police could do until Cruz actually committed a crime.
Later the same year, an unidentified counsellor told the Douglas High School resource deputy that Cruz ‘possibly drank gasoline in an attempt to commit suicide’, and was self harming.
However, an investigator from Florida’s Department of Children and Families spoke to Cruz, and found that his therapist advised that he was ‘not currently a threat to himself or others’.
Just last week, the full extent of Cruz’s gun stash was revealed to the public.
Part of the stash was an AK-47-style rifle which he bought less than one month ago, according to Mail Online.
He’s also said to have owned three other guns, which he acquired through illegal means, according to an anonymous law enforcement official.
In order to buy guns in America, the customer must pass background checks, which Cruz himself did.
The suspected shooter was revealed to have bought an AK-47 just last month in Deerfield Beach, Florida.
In the aftermath of the tragedy, a fresh debate has risen surrounding gun control in the US, resulting in increasing pressure to enforce some sort of regulation on gun ownership from both sides of the political spectrum.
