PARKLAND, Fla. _ As families began on Friday to bury loved ones gunned down in the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting in Parkland this week, new details emerged about what law enforcement knew that might have prevented the deadly rampage that killed 17 people and injured at least 15 more.
FBI APOLOGIZES FOR FAILURE
FBI Director Christopher Wray apologized on Friday afternoon for the agency's failure to follow up on a Jan. 5 tip that Nikolas Cruz, the troubled teen who allegedly carried out the deadly attack, may have been planning a school shooting.
"We are still investigating the facts," Wray said in a statement.
A month and nine days after the FBI received the tip _ the agency's second related to alleged threats to carry out a school shooting at Douglas High _ Cruz walked into the Parkland school and shot students and staff with an AR-15 assault rifle that he had legally bought in Feb. 2017.
The FBI said Thursday that the agency was unable to run down another threat that presaged the violence of a troubled teen who carried a weapon of war into Stoneman Douglas High on Valentine's Day, killing 17 people and injuring at least 15 more.
Rob Lasky, special agent in charge of the FBI's Miami field office, said the agency had gotten a tip in 2017 about an ominous message posted to a YouTube video.
The message, Lasky said, read: "I'm going to be a professional school shooter."
The person who posted the comment left no details about the location or the time, Lasky said. The FBI investigated the incident, reviewing internal databases and checking open sources, Lasky added, but, "We were unable to identify the person who made the comment."
It was signed with the user name, "nikolas cruz."
ALLEGED SHOOTER WAS NOT EXPELLED
Broward Schools Superintendent Robert Runcie said on Friday that the alleged school shooter, Nikolas Cruz, was not expelled from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High. He was transferred to a school for students with behavioral issues.
Runcie confirmed that one of the Broward schools where administrators transferred Cruz was Cross Creek School in Pompano Beach, a K-12 institution with about 150 students. But Runcie indicated that Cruz attended other county schools, as well.
"Clearly the student had mental and behavioral issues and we have services we provide in schools when they don't fit into a normal school environment," Runcie said.
DOUGLAS HIGH REMAINS CLOSED
The Broward County school district has not yet decided when Douglas High will reopen following the Feb. 14 massacre, Superintendent Robert Runcie told the Miami Herald on Friday afternoon. The district will likely decide on a plan over the next 24 to 48 hours and hopes to announce a decision over the weekend.
The most likely scenario is that teachers would be the first to return in order to give them a day to prepare for the arrival of students, Runcie said.
The biggest obstacle to reopening the school is that the building where the shooting occurred houses roughly 900 students and will have to remain closed for months as the investigation continues, Runcie said.
"Secondly, parents and students have told me very clearly they're not going to go back into that building and I believe they're right," he said. "In an ideal world there would be sufficient funding to do a replacement building at a different site on the campus and then erect a memorial on that location."
On Friday, faculty and some students returned to the Douglas High campus for the first time since the shooting to recover their cars that had been parked at the school. Broward Sheriff's deputies will be escorting school staff and students into the parking lot through 3 p.m.
FUNERAL HELD FOR STUDENT
Alyssa Alhadeff, 14, was a skilled soccer player who impressed her coach when she soared over a defender during a game and knocked the ball out of the air with her head _ just one day before Alhadeff would lose her life at Douglas High.
A student at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School and a member of the Parkland Travel Soccer team, Alhadeff embodied the school's eagle mascot, friends and family said at her funeral Friday.
Alhadeff, who told a friend she dreamed of going to college and becoming a doctor, was one of the youngest victims of the shooting.
"I wish I could have taken those bullets for you, Alyssa," said her mother Lori Alhadeff, at the funeral. "I would have protected you."
Hundreds of mourners flooded the chapel and its lobby, with some forced to stand outside the building. Tears flowed and students hugged each other tightly.
"This has changed our entire community forever," said the rabbi officiating the service at Star of David Funeral Chapel. "It's not just a loss to our community. It's a loss to humanity as a whole. Parents aren't supposed to send their child to school, like so many of you did today, thinking that they may never come home."
U.S. SENATOR VISITS CAMPUS
U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson, a Florida Democrat, visited the campus of Marjory Stoneman Douglas Friday morning and called for an assault weapons ban, adding that he hoped the power of the kids at the school could finally force change.
During a 15-minute question and answer session, Nelson outlined the difficulties of passing legislation, noting that a terrorist can't get on an airplane but can remain off a watch list that would prevent terrorists from buying a weapon in the U.S.
He spoke of the bravery of the students at the high school, who have as a group spoken loudly in front of the cameras of their disgust with inaction in government.
"Maybe this will be the turning point," he said. "Maybe the students speaking out so boldly on national TV. I hope this is a turning point for the entire country."
Nelson said he is certain there will be 49 votes in the Senate for an assault weapons ban. Sixty are required to pass legislation. However, Nelson emphasized that it is difficult to pass new gun control legislation, noting that a bill to ban bump stocks _ such as the device used during the massacre at a Las Vegas outdoor concert in October _ has languished in the Senate for months with no action taken.
"I grew up in Florida on a ranch. I have always had guns since I was a little boy," Nelson said. "But an AR-15 is not for hunting. It's for killing."
BLOOD DONATIONS SURGING
One of the most useful ways that a community can help in the aftermath of a mass shooting is to donate blood. South Floridians have delivered such an overwhelming response in the wake of the Douglas High shooting that the local blood collection center is asking donors to please make an apointment.
OneBlood, which collects blood for Florida hospitals, said its staff is working to test and process the thousands of units of blood that were donated the day after the shooting.
Appointments for blood donations can be made online at oneblood.org or by calling OneBlood at 1-888-9-DONATE.
A PUBLIC HEALTH THREAT THAT NEEDS SCIENCE
Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar said he is open to conducting federal health research on gun violence, which is limited by a 1996 law that prevents the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention from carrying out research to advocate for gun control.
Azar told a congressional committee on Wednesday that he believes the CDC has the ability to conduct gun violence research and that they "certainly will."
The American Medical Association concurred with Azar and urged a quick start, issuing a statement from the group's president, Dr. David O. Barbe. The AMA is the largest group representing physicians in the United States.
"We agree with Secretary Azar that the CDC has the authority to conduct this critical research into gun violence and they should begin their work immediately," Barbe said. "An epidemiological analysis of gun violence is vital to address this public health crisis so our society can take action and prevent injury, death and other harms resulting from firearms. ... With more than 30,000 Americans dying each year from gun violence and firearm-related accidents, the time to act is now."
COPYCAT THREATS CONTINUE
Hialeah police said it was investigating unconfirmed reports of a suspicious man near Hialeah High School. Police swarmed the area around the high school but did find any suspicious persons, said Lt. Eddie Rodriguez.
