General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsFlorida Department of Children declared shooter stable in 2016
Nikolas Cruz had just broken up with his girlfriend, who had been cheating on him, and hed gotten into a fight with another boy. Hed drawn a Nazi symbol on his book bag. And Broward mental health authorities were worried that his chronic depression was worsening.
It was Sept. 28, 2016, and Cruz who since has admitted to perpetrating one of the worst school shootings in U.S. history took to his arms with a knife.
Mr. Cruz was on Snapchat cutting both of his arms, the Florida Department of Children & Families abuse hotline was told at 1:48 p.m. Mr. Cruz has fresh cuts on both his arms. Mr. Cruz stated he plans to go out and buy a gun.
In the short report, Cruz, then 18, was listed as an alleged victim of medical neglect and inadequate supervision; his mother, 68-year-old Lynda Cruz, the alleged perpetrator.
DCFs investigation was completed that Nov. 12. The agency concluded that Cruz had not been mistreated by his mother, that he was receiving adequate care from a counselor at Henderson Mental Health, and was attending school.
Henderson came out and assessed the [victim and] found him to be stable enough not to be hospitalized, the report said.
Cruz had been diagnosed with autism, a neurological disorder that often leads to social awkwardness and isolation, and attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder, or ADHD.
http://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/community/broward/article200692514.html
bobbieinok
(12,858 posts)RandySF
(59,167 posts)bobbieinok
(12,858 posts)RandySF
(59,167 posts)hatrack
(59,592 posts)Oh, never mind - I forgot -
bronxiteforever
(9,287 posts)sinkingfeeling
(51,471 posts)Blue_true
(31,261 posts)Republicans avoid blame for any and all fuckups.
democratisphere
(17,235 posts)Fred Sanders
(23,946 posts)Bet tens of thousands of kids had similar profiles in all that time and killed no one.
democratisphere
(17,235 posts)It appears to me that his case was sloughed off to close it.
Kaleva
(36,332 posts)The situation has to be pretty extreme before CPS takes action. In 2016, Cruz had a home, was in school and was getting counseling.
democratisphere
(17,235 posts)But his history, then expulsion from school. People can't slip through the cracks and have things like this happen. Perhaps I expect to much. Humans sure are not perfect.
Kaleva
(36,332 posts)And we know human judgement is often flawed in of itself.
I've sometimes thought parents ought to go through the same hoops as foster parents. My wife and I underwent an extensive background check, interviewed in person by 3 different people, fill out several pages answering questions about our family history, had our finger prints taken, had to attend training, the home was safety checked by two different people, we had to provide references and a list of debts, credit and monthly income to ensure we had adequate financial resources to provide a home and transportation for the child, had to have a vehicle, and the home was inspected monthly afterwards once we were licensed.
I don't envy the job the caseworkers have. One is the Chicago area was recently murdered by the father of a child the caseworker had come to the home to take away.
USALiberal
(10,877 posts)democratisphere
(17,235 posts)Perhaps I have unrealistic expectations when a person is in his situation and condition.
FSogol
(45,524 posts)The empressof all
(29,098 posts)Any exam at any given time is a snap shot of that persons moment. Sure you can look at history and extrapolate all kinds of possibilities. The professionals follow a protocol as do the police. If he wasn't presenting as a danger to himself or others there was nothing that could be done under the law. There are many people with those diagnoses who do not go on to commit crimes just as there are some people with no psychiatric histories who murder.
It is frustrating that this such a grey area but short of locking up everyone who reports violent thoughts what would you have the system do?
What the system can do is remove machines that are specifically made to kill large numbers of people out of the hands of the citizens. If you want to go shoot an automatic weapon go check one out at a gun range and have at it. There is no reason to have them floating around the community.
ProudLib72
(17,984 posts)I don't like that at all. That is a sick cop out.