Susan Stocker/Reuters
Nikolas Cruz, the 19-year-old man accused of gunning down 17 people at a Florida high school this week, reportedly drew the attention of child protective services by cutting his arms on Snapchat long before the massacre. In August 2016, an abuse hotline for the Florida Department of Children & Families received a tip that Cruz “was on Snapchat cutting both of his arms,” according to the Miami Herald. “Mr. Cruz has fresh cuts on both his arms. Mr. Cruz stated he plans to go out and buy a gun,” the agency was reportedly warned. A “Nazi symbol” drawn on his book bag also reportedly sparks concerns among authorities. A subsequent DCF investigation into Cruz and his adoptive mother, Lynda Cruz, concluded that he was not being mistreated and was receiving adequate mental health treatment. He was deemed “stable enough not to be hospitalized,” according to the report. The incident, another red flag in the months leading up to the deadly shooting, was made public as part of a petition filed by DCF seeking to release information on Cruz’s history to combat inaccurate reports in the “public domain.”