Meet the man who reported shooter threat in Florida months ago

D’IBERVILLE, Mississippi (WXXV/AP) – There were plenty of signs that Nikolas Cruz could be violent, before he killed 17 people at a Florida high school.

One sign was a YouTube post where he said he wanted to be a school shooter.

So, why didn’t someone report it?

Someone did, and the FBI investigated the comment but did not determine who made it. Ben Bennight from D’Iberville, Mississippi spotted the post last September and notified the FBI. WXXV-TV, a Morris Network station, in southern Mississippi talked to him about it on Thursday.

There was also another tip to the FBI, but the agency says it failed to investigate a specific report in January that Nikolas Cruz could be plotting a school shooting.

The agency said Friday that the tip should’ve been investigated thoroughly because it was a potential threat to life.

On Jan. 5, a tipster who was close to Cruz called the FBI and provided information about Cruz’s guns, desire to kill people, erratic behavior and disturbing social media posts. The FBI says the caller expressed concerns Cruz could attack a school.

Cruz has been arrested and charged with killing 17 people at a high school earlier this week.

Cruz was on NRA-supported target rifle team

The troubled teen authorities say killed 17 people at a Florida high school excelled in an air-rifle marksmanship program supported by a grant from the National Rifle Association Foundation. It was part of a multi-million dollar effort by the pro-gun group to support youth shooting clubs.

Nikolas Cruz was wearing a shirt with the logo of the Army Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps program when he was arrested. Former cadets told The Associated Press that Cruz was on the varsity marksmanship team that competed against other area schools.

The cadets used air rifles special-made for target shooting. The JROTC program at Cruz’s school received $10,827 in non-cash assistance from the NRA’s foundation while he was there.

NRA declined to comment. The foundation gave nearly $2.2 million to schools in 2016.