Investigation 101: FBI and Florida Shooter
Without subpoenas or the substantial wherewithal of the FBI, I found a man the 9/11 Commission claimed they couldn't. In one day in May 2004. Using publicly available databases, I tracked down Lloyd Thompson in Yonkers. Here's an excerpt from the New York Post article:
“I live right here and I go to work every morning,” said Lloyd Thompson, 48, outside his apartment in a large complex in Yonkers yesterday.
“I’m not hiding,” he said, climbing into the black 2002 Jeep Cherokee registered in his name. “I’m not a criminal.”
here's the full story: https://nypost.com/2004/05/21/911-radio-daze-post-finds-panels-missing-witness/
The point is there is no excuse for the FBI not to have found the Florida shooter after he was reported to them twice. The first report was prompted by a YouTube comment the shooter made under his own name declaring, "I'm going to be a professional school shooter." Had the call come to me, I could have run searches in social media platforms for that name. Perhaps his online posts of guns, killing animals and such would've turned up. From there, I'd know his age range and I'd look for an address, a school, a DMV or voting record.
An FBI agent has more resources available. They could ask YouTube for information on the teen because he had to sign up for a YouTube account. If the social media giant refused, he could get an administrative subpoena. The police do it for phone records all the time. If that wasn't an option, a court ordered subpoena might be needed. But that's just the start. They could try the federal NICS firearms background check system - which was searched when the teen bought his rifle. The FBI also has the best computer crimes unit in the world.
It is unimaginable the vaunted Federal Bureau of Investigation could not find him. But the debacle grew even worse today, when FBI Director Christopher Wray admitted the agency never followed up on a tip from a person close to the shooter who described him as deeply disturbed, heavily armed and poised to shoot up a school.
At this point, I've run out of words.