School shootersSchool shooters: What can law enforcement do to stop them?

By James Jacobs

Published 8 March 2018

Could the police have stopped Nikolas Cruz before he killed 17 students and teachers, and wounded many others, at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School? The answer is: in all likelihood, No: The police did not have grounds to arrest Cruz and, even had they arrested him, that probably would not have prevented his rampage. Florida police have limited options when faced with a potential shooter like Cruz. They can take him to a mental hospital for evaluation. They can try to persuade him to surrender his firearms, but they cannot seize his guns. In Florida there is no “weapons seizure” or “red flag” law authorizing the police to seek a judicial warrant to take weapons away from a person deemed to be a serious threat to self or others. “Curing” Cruz would have been the best outcome. Disarming him would have been second best. Unfortunately, Florida does not have a “red flag” law, which five states already have and more than 20 are considering.

On Feb. 14, 2018, Nikolas Cruz massacred 17 students and teachers at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. Many others were wounded.

Could the police have stopped Cruz?

In the months and years prior to the massacre, family members, school personnel and neighbors had reported Cruz’s disturbing, threatening and violent behavior many times to police and social services. Private citizens reported to the FBI at least twice that Cruz had posted school shooting threats on social media.

Should he have been arrested for fighting, abusing animals or posting threats on social media? Should he have been involuntarily committed to a mental hospital? Is there any way he could have been disarmed?

Some abhorrent behavior not illegal
I teach criminal law and procedure, and frequently write about my research on gun control issues. It seems to me that the police did not have grounds to arrest Cruz and that, even had they arrested him, that probably would not have prevented his rampage.

Florida police have limited options when faced with a potential shooter like Cruz. They can take him to a mental hospital for evaluation. They can try to persuade him to surrender his firearms, but they cannot seize his guns.

In Florida there is no “weapons seizure” or “red flag” law authorizing the police to seek a judicial warrant to take weapons away from a person deemed to be a serious threat to self or others.

Though Cruz had killed squirrels, birds and frogs, been chronically disruptive at school and, on several occasions, threatened and struck his mother and brother, his conduct probably did not warrant criminal charges.