Florida Shooting: Suspected gunman Nikolas Cruz was 'investigated for cutting himself'

More evidence emerges of alleged shooter's troubled history

Nikolas Cruz appears via video monitor with his public defender Melisa McNeill at a bond court hearing in Fort Lauderdale, Florida (Reuters)

The man accused of killing 17 people at a Florida high school had reportedly been investigated for self-harm and saying he wanted to buy a gun.

Suspected shooter Nikolas Cruz spurred investigations by law enforcement and welfare officials after cutting his arms and professing a desire to purchase firearms on social media, according to records obtained by the South Florida Sun Sentinel.

The information bolsters an emerging portrait of a disturbed young man who had repeatedly shown warning signs of wanting to unleash violence.

The FBI has acknowledged that it failed to investigate a tip last month that Mr Cruz owned guns and had the “desire to kill”, leading Florida governor Rick Scott to demand the resignation of FBI director Christopher Wray.

Another tip, passed along to the FBI last year, spotlighted an online comment posted by a “Nikolas Cruz” saying “Im going to be a professional school shooter”. The agent in charge of the bureau’s Miami field office said officials could not at the time confirm the commenter’s identity.

People who knew Mr Cruz have described the student as troubled. He was expelled from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School for bad behaviour before last week’s massacre.

His defence attorney described him as a “a broken human being”.

“He’s a broken child,” attorney Melisa McNeill said after Mr Cruz’s initial court appearance. He has been charged with 17 counts of premeditated murder.