President Donald Trump came face-to-face Friday with hospitalized victims of the horrific school shooting in Florida and offered thanks to the doctors and nurses who helped the wounded, describing the carnage as "very sad."
Asked if he'd talked with victims, Trump said: "I did indeed, and it's very sad something like that could happen."
After paying their respects to medical professionals at Broward Health North Hospital, Trump and his wife, Melania, visited with law enforcement officials in Fort Lauderdale, where he told officers that he hoped they were "getting the credit" they deserved for their response to the shooting that left 17 dead and 14 injured.
"I was at the hospital with a lot of parents and they are really thankful for the job you've done," Trump said at the Broward County Sheriff's Office, where he was joined by Gov. Rick Scott, Sen. Marco Rubio and other Florida officials. He added that the young victims were in "really great shape" considering what they have been through.
Trump praised the law enforcement officials and marveled at the speed with which first responders rushed the wounded to the hospital.
Late Friday, he tweeted about the school shooting: "Our entire Nation, w/one heavy heart, continues to pray for the victims & their families in Parkland, FL. To teachers, law enforcement, first responders & medical professionals who responded so bravely in the face of danger: We THANK YOU for your courage!" He included pictures of an injured young girl and her family that he and the first lady visited.
The FBI, the top US law enforcement agency, admitted it had received a chilling warning in January from a tipster who said the 19-year-old gunman, Nikolas Cruz, could be planning a mass shooting, but that agents had failed to follow up.
"The caller 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," the FBI said in a statement.
The information from the caller "should have been assessed as a potential threat to life" and forwarded to the agency's Miami field office, it said.
The president's visit to the Parkland area north of Miami came amid growing anger among parents and students at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School over America's seeming unwillingness to toughen gun control laws.
As with previous mass shootings, the focus of gun control advocates was also the easy availability of the AR-15, a civilian version of the US military's M16.
Millions have been sold around the United States, and AR-15-style rifles were used in the mass shootings in Las Vegas, Sutherland Springs, Texas and Newtown, Connecticut.
