Attorney General Jeff Sessions ordered a review of the FBI after the bureau admitted they failed to properly investigate an anonymous tip warning about the Florida shooter.
“It is now clear that the warning signs were there and tips to the FBI were missed,” Sessions said in a statement. “We see the tragic consequences of those failures.”
The FBI admitted on Friday that an anonymous tip warning about the shooter in January 2018 was not sent to the Miami field office because of a failure to act on “established protocols.” The shooter shot and killed 17 students a month later — February 14, 2018.
Sessions ordered Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein to conduct a full review of the failure at the Department of Justice.
“This is imperative and we must do better,” Sessions wrote, noting that the Department of Justice would make it a “top priority.”
Florida Governor Rick Scott responded to the news by calling for the resignation of the FBI director.
“The FBI’s failure to take action against this killer is unacceptable,” Scott said in a statement. “The families will spend a lifetime wondering how this could happen and an apology will never give them the answers they desperately need.”
Sessions also encouraged all Americans to spot potential warning signs from troubled individuals and to alert law enforcement officials.
“Do not assume someone else will step up — all of us must be vigilant,” he concluded. “Our children’s lives depend on it.”