The Florida Shooting Could Have Been Prevented

Another shooting.

Yes, another one.

The Valentine’s Day massacre at a Florida high school left 17 people dead, many more critically injured, families shattered, and a community heartbroken.

Nikolas Cruz, 19, and a former student of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, entered the premises on February 14, 2017, wearing a gas mask and a bulletproof vest and also carrying a rifle, ammunition, and smoke grenades.

He then pulled the fire alarm, which prompted students and staff to pour from the classrooms into hallways, and chaos ensued.

Apprehended by law enforcement, Cruz has been placed into custody without bail and has been charged with 17 counts of premeditated murder for the attack last Wednesday.

His motive still remains unclear, but students who encountered Cruz in the past said he’s always talked about his “enjoyment” of firearms. His penchant for firearms was so well-known that some students would joke about if anyone were to attack the school, it would most likely be him…

The Warnings Were There

There were many warning signs to suggest that Cruz was highly unstable.

Cruz was expelled from the Parkland high school over speculations of domestic violence and stalking. He was abusive toward his ex-girlfriend, fought with his ex-girlfriend’s new boyfriend, and was so taken with another girl that he essentially stalked her.

“Cruz threatened to bring guns to school multiple times,” senior Eddie Bonilla said. Other students, he said, “threw jokes around that he’d be the one to shoot up the school.”

Sophomore Isabella Gomez said she recognized Cruz as a “strange kid” whom she often saw around school. She recalled that Cruz had been prohibited at one point from carrying a backpack, so he carried his school things in a plastic bag.

Julien Decoste, a senior, said Cruz would often post pictures on his Instagram feed of “dead lizards and stuff that he shot.” That same Instagram feed also shows a figure holding knives and a face obscured by bandannas.

Another picture shows a young man, presumably Cruz, holding a pistol — although, it’s unclear whether or not the pictured pistol is real.

Sources close to Cruz have stated that the young man was depressed and distraught over the recent death of his mother this past November. Grief and loss are powerful forces, and the family he was living with for the last few months described his stay as “without any concerns or issues.”

And a Mississippi bail bondsman said he notified the FBI last year about a comment on a YouTube video by someone with the username “Nikolas Cruz” that said, “I’m going to be a professional school shooter.”

An FBI official in Florida confirmed the basics of the account, saying agents followed up on the lead but were unable to confirm the identity and location of the suspect who’d posted the comment.

On the day of the shooting, Cruz took an Uber to the school campus. After the attack, he hid within the crowd that was fleeing the school. He was apprehended and arrested in the nearby Coral Springs area about an hour later…

The Next Step

In the wake of such a tragic event, it’s unfortunate to see the political divide worsening with politicians and individuals from each end of the spectrum screaming, demanding reforms

Now, I won’t tell you what you should believe, what you can believe, or what you can’t believe. Everyone has a right to their own opinion.

But in a time of such loss and suffering, we as a people need unity more than ever.

For years, there have been calls for stricter gun control. And more recently, there have been calls for more access to care for those who suffer from mental illnesses.

Congress has been at loggerheads over these issues for far too long and with no results. Mass shootings keep happening and our friends, family, and children keep dying.

Our society needs a resolution, and it needs one fast. Because our society is failing its people.

But gun control isn’t the solution we need. It’s never worked in the past, and it won’t be successful in the future. We need immediate action.

For generations, firearms were a part of the everyday American culture. And the American people back then were never subjected to mass shootings at the alarmingly frequent rate that we are today.

Society is the only thing that’s changed.

But what if I told you we’ve found the answer?

The Solution Our Society Needs

There are always more questions than answers when it comes to these kinds of horrifying events.

We may never know Cruz’s reason for deciding to kill and injure his former teachers and classmates.

But one this is for certain: There will never be a law or ban that prevents them from ever happening again. That notion would be nothing more than an unrealistic promise that can never be upheld.

So, it’s time for us to just let that go once and for all.

We, as a people, need to reach beyond restrictive legislation and regulatory half measures and instead look to other options.

We need a technology that’s smart enough to identify a threat before it even has the chance to reach its target.

And like I said earlier, we’ve found the answer.

My colleague Alex Koyfman has discovered a small Canadian company that has perfected that very type of technology.

Teams of security guards, time-consuming checkpoints, and “security monitoring” will all be made obsolete by this technology. Schools, hotels, and other public gathering places will be made safe by it once again.

It may sound like a fantasy, but I promise you it’s very real.

This technology has already been cleared to distribute its products across North America and has already made its first installations in Las Vegas in the wake of the shooting at last October’s Route 91 Harvest music festival.

This company still remains unknown to most, but that’s about to change.

So I implore you, for the sake of our children’s future, watch Alex’s video presentation to get the whole story.

You’ll be thankful you did.

Until next time,

Briton Ryle

@BritonRyle on Twitter

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A 21-year veteran of the newsletter business, Briton Ryle is the editor of The Wealth Advisory income stock newsletter, with a focus on top-quality dividend growth stocks and REITs. Briton also manages the Real Income Trader advisory service, where his readers take regular cash payouts using a low-risk covered call option strategy. He is also the managing editor of the Wealth Daily e-letter. To learn more about Briton, click here.