Florida Shooting Suspect Took Part in Training Program That Received NRA Grant

The year Cruz participated, the school’s Junior Army Reserve Officer Program received more than $10,000 in non-cash assistance.

Tim Sharp/AP

Fight disinformation: Sign up for the free Mother Jones Daily newsletter and follow the news that matters.

Nikolas Cruz, the 19-year-old who allegedly shot and killed 17 people at a Florida high school this week, was a member of the school’s Army Junior Reserve Officer Training Program varsity air-rifle marksmanship team that received a grant from the National Rifle Association, the Associated Press reported on Friday. 

The AP found that the JROTC at Majory Stoneman Douglas High School received $10,827 in non-cash assistance from the NRA Foundation, the organization’s charitable arm, in 2016, the year Cruz was involved. The program, which also receives financial support from the military, was one of 18 schools that have received donations from the NRA in 2016. In a 2016 tweet, the program thanked the NRA for its donation, which it says was used to “upgrade and replenish equipment.”

The JROTC at Majory Stoneman is just one of many that receive donations from the NRA’s charitable wing as part of an effort to promote youth programs. The Associated Press found that the NRA Foundation, the organization’s charitable wing, doled out more than $2.2 million to schools in 30 states in 2016, much of which came from donations intended for efforts like gun safety programs for youth and updating equipment. 

The latest revelations come after the Broward County Sheriff Scott Israel told reporters on Friday that his department has received more than 20 calls about Cruz in recent years. The Washington Post reported that in January, the FBI failed to pass a tip to its Miami office from a person close to Cruz who “provided information about Cruz’s gun ownership, desire to kill people, erratic behavior, and disturbing social media posts, as well as the potential of him conducting a school shooting.”  

Cruz was expelled from Majory Stoneman last year and has been charged with 17 counts of murder. 

 

AN IMPORTANT UPDATE

We’re falling behind our online fundraising goals and we can’t sustain coming up short on donations month after month. Perhaps you’ve heard? It is impossibly hard in the news business right now, with layoffs intensifying and fancy new startups and funding going kaput.

The crisis facing journalism and democracy isn’t going away anytime soon. And neither is Mother Jones, our readers, or our unique way of doing in-depth reporting that exists to bring about change.

Which is exactly why, despite the challenges we face, we just took a big gulp and joined forces with the Center for Investigative Reporting, a team of ace journalists who create the amazing podcast and public radio show Reveal.

If you can part with even just a few bucks, please help us pick up the pace of donations. We simply can’t afford to keep falling behind on our fundraising targets month after month.

Editor-in-Chief Clara Jeffery said it well to our team recently, and that team 100 percent includes readers like you who make it all possible: “This is a year to prove that we can pull off this merger, grow our audiences and impact, attract more funding and keep growing. More broadly, it’s a year when the very future of both journalism and democracy is on the line. We have to go for every important story, every reader/listener/viewer, and leave it all on the field. I’m very proud of all the hard work that’s gotten us to this moment, and confident that we can meet it.”

Let’s do this. If you can right now, please support Mother Jones and investigative journalism with an urgently needed donation today.

payment methods

AN IMPORTANT UPDATE

We’re falling behind our online fundraising goals and we can’t sustain coming up short on donations month after month. Perhaps you’ve heard? It is impossibly hard in the news business right now, with layoffs intensifying and fancy new startups and funding going kaput.

The crisis facing journalism and democracy isn’t going away anytime soon. And neither is Mother Jones, our readers, or our unique way of doing in-depth reporting that exists to bring about change.

Which is exactly why, despite the challenges we face, we just took a big gulp and joined forces with the Center for Investigative Reporting, a team of ace journalists who create the amazing podcast and public radio show Reveal.

If you can part with even just a few bucks, please help us pick up the pace of donations. We simply can’t afford to keep falling behind on our fundraising targets month after month.

Editor-in-Chief Clara Jeffery said it well to our team recently, and that team 100 percent includes readers like you who make it all possible: “This is a year to prove that we can pull off this merger, grow our audiences and impact, attract more funding and keep growing. More broadly, it’s a year when the very future of both journalism and democracy is on the line. We have to go for every important story, every reader/listener/viewer, and leave it all on the field. I’m very proud of all the hard work that’s gotten us to this moment, and confident that we can meet it.”

Let’s do this. If you can right now, please support Mother Jones and investigative journalism with an urgently needed donation today.

payment methods

We Recommend

Latest

Sign up for our free newsletter

Subscribe to the Mother Jones Daily to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

Get our award-winning magazine

Save big on a full year of investigations, ideas, and insights.

Subscribe

Support our journalism

Help Mother Jones' reporters dig deep with a tax-deductible donation.

Donate