WEATHER ALERT
LIVE: State reps hold press conference 6 years after Parkland school shooting
Read full article: LIVE: State reps hold press conference 6 years after Parkland school shootingState representatives Jared Moskowitz (D-FL), Mike Thompson (D-CA), and Maxwell Frost (D-FL) will hold a press conference on the sixth anniversary of the Parkland school shooting.
Proposal would lower gun-buying age in Florida from 21 to 18
Read full article: Proposal would lower gun-buying age in Florida from 21 to 18A House Republican from Northeast Florida on Thursday renewed an attempt to lower the minimum age from 21 to 18 for people to buy rifles and other long guns in Florida, potentially reversing part of a law that passed in the aftermath of the 2018 mass shooting at Parkland’s Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.
Parkland massacre survivors, victim’s families visit school building shooting site before demolition
Read full article: Parkland massacre survivors, victim’s families visit school building shooting site before demolitionFamilies of the victims and survivors of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School massacre were allowed back into the 1200 building where the shooting occurred beginning Wednesday.
‘A mess for a while’: Changes to Florida’s death penalty laws causing issues in high-profile local murder cases
Read full article: ‘A mess for a while’: Changes to Florida’s death penalty laws causing issues in high-profile local murder casesAttorneys are calling the changes to Florida’s death penalty law a real problem that could set up years of litigation.
Audit finds DCPS complying with state’s school-based crime reporting following scathing report
Read full article: Audit finds DCPS complying with state’s school-based crime reporting following scathing reportNews4JAX reported last summer when that a grand jury found that Duval County Public Schools was significantly under-reporting crimes.
Parkland school shooter spared from execution for killing 17
Read full article: Parkland school shooter spared from execution for killing 17A jury spared Florida school shooter Nikolas Cruz from the death penalty Thursday for killing 17 people at a Parkland high school in 2018, sending him to prison for the remainder of his life in a decision that left many families of the victims angered, baffled and in tears.
Prosecutor makes final case for school shooter’s execution
Read full article: Prosecutor makes final case for school shooter’s executionThe lead prosecutor and attorney for Florida school shooter Nikolas Cruz have made their closing arguments over whether he should be sentenced to death or life in prison.
Defense suddenly rests case in Florida school shooter trial
Read full article: Defense suddenly rests case in Florida school shooter trialAttorneys for Florida school shooter Nikolas Cruz have suddenly and surprisingly rested their case, leading to a shouting match after the judge accused them of a lack of professionalism.
Expert: School shooter’s mother drank heavily in pregnancy
Read full article: Expert: School shooter’s mother drank heavily in pregnancyOne of the nation's leading researchers on the effects of fetal alcohol abuse says the birth mother of Florida school shooter Nikolas Cruz drank more in pregnancy than any woman he has documented.
Expert: School shooter’s mother drank heavily in pregnancy
Read full article: Expert: School shooter’s mother drank heavily in pregnancyOne of the nation's leading researchers on the effects of fetal alcohol abuse says the birth mother of Florida school shooter Nikolas Cruz drank more in pregnancy than any woman he has documented.
Letter: School shooter fixated with guns, dreamed of killing
Read full article: Letter: School shooter fixated with guns, dreamed of killingFour years before Nikolas Cruz murdered 17 people at a Florida high school, therapists at another school wrote a letter to his psychiatrist saying he was fixated on guns and dreamed of killing others and being covered in blood.
Parkland jurors must manage trial stress on their own
Read full article: Parkland jurors must manage trial stress on their ownThe 12 jurors chosen to decide whether Florida school shooter Nikolas Cruz is executed will be exposed to horrific images and emotional testimony, but must deal with any mental anguish alone.
Jury selection in school shooter’s trial upended by T-shirt
Read full article: Jury selection in school shooter’s trial upended by T-shirtJury selection in the penalty trial of Florida school shooter Nikolas Cruz hit a new stumbling block when a potential juror wore a T-shirt potentially prejudicial to his case.
Jury selection for Florida school killer enters 2nd phase
Read full article: Jury selection for Florida school killer enters 2nd phaseJury selection in the penalty trial of Florida school shooter Nikolas Cruz has entered its second phase with the attorneys asking questions of potential jurors individually.
Families of Parkland shooting victims reach $25 million settlement with school district
Read full article: Families of Parkland shooting victims reach $25 million settlement with school districtThe families of victims killed during a school shooting in Parkland in 2018 have reached a $25 million settlement with the school district, media outlets reported Monday.
Gov. DeSantis orders flags at half-staff Sunday to honor 17 lives lost in Parkland school shooting
Read full article: Gov. DeSantis orders flags at half-staff Sunday to honor 17 lives lost in Parkland school shootingRon DeSantis ordered flags across the state be lowered to half-staff from sunrise to sunset Sunday to honor the 17 lives lost in the Parkland school shooting. Authorities said a former student of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School opened fire on campus with an AR-15 rifle on Valentine’s Day in 2018. When the gunfire ended, 14 students and three staff members were dead, and 17 others were wounded. In his proclamation for a day of remembrance, DeSantis asked fellow Floridians to pause for a moment of silence at 3 p.m. Sunday. The panic alert measure was dubbed “Alyssa’s Law,” in honor of 14-year-old Alyssa Alhadeff, one of the students killed three years ago.
Father of victim reflects on three years since Parkland school shooting
Read full article: Father of victim reflects on three years since Parkland school shootingJACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Sunday marks three years since the mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland. So every day is like Sunday for me.”On Thursday, Schachter helped launch the first statewide dashboard to reduce school violence — School Incident Report. Senators Marco Rubio and Rick Scott, along with Wisconsin’s Sen. Ron Johnson filed the Luke and Alex School Safety Act of 2021, an identical bill as was filed last legislative session. If passed, the bill would nationally systematize the bundle of school safety information compiled at schoolsafety.gov. “The Trump administration agreed with my idea, they created this school safety clearinghouse.”AdSen. Rubio said this centralized source for best school safety practices will provide schools some consistency nationwide.
3 years after Parkland, lawmakers mixed on Florida’s gun laws
Read full article: 3 years after Parkland, lawmakers mixed on Florida’s gun lawsTALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Sunday will mark three years since the Parkland High School mass shooting that left 17 students and staff dead. Manuel Oliver’s son, Joaquin, was one of the 17 killed in the Valentine’s Day mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. Oliver, who says her son was also her best friend, is still waiting for lawmakers to take action. AdAfter the Parkland shooting, the Legislature increased the age to purchase firearms from 18 to 21. The same legislation also allowed trained school staff to possess firearms on school grounds.
Gov. DeSantis signs school panic alarm bill
Read full article: Gov. DeSantis signs school panic alarm billRon DeSantis on Tuesday signed a bill that will require each public school in the state to have a panic alert system starting in the 2021-2022 academic year. The bill (SB 70), which passed during the legislative session that ended in March, was named Alyssas Law, after Alyssa Alhadeff, a student who was among 17 people killed in the February 2018 mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland. The panic-button systems will be required to link to local law-enforcement agencies, with a goal of improving coordination and reducing response times by first responders during emergencies. DeSantis did not publicly comment about the bill Tuesday, but House and Senate sponsors announced that he had signed it. In the massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas, milliseconds mattered -- and the lack of real-time coordination between first responders likely cost precious lives, Senate sponsor Lauren Book, D-Plantation, said.
Florida Supreme Court blocks assault weapon ban from ballot
Read full article: Florida Supreme Court blocks assault weapon ban from ballotA group called Ban Assault Weapons Now sponsored the proposed constitutional amendment, inspired by the mass shooting at a Parkland high school that left 17 people dead. While the ballot summary purports to exempt registered assault weapons lawfully possessed prior to the Initiatives effective date, the Initiative does not categorically exempt the assault weapon, only the current owners possession of that assault weapon. The ballot summary is therefore affirmatively misleading, the court wrote in its opinion. But since the petitions used the language the court says is invalid, the group cant simply tweak the ballot summary. Attorney General Ashley Moody opposed the ballot initiative, as did the National Rifle Association, which hired a legal team to fight it.
Judge scraps mediation in gun lawsuit
Read full article: Judge scraps mediation in gun lawsuitTALLAHASSEE, Fla. The National Rifle Association and Florida officials will avoid mediation in a lawsuit challenging a 2018 state law that prevents people under age 21 from purchasing firearms, under an order issued this week by a federal judge. The law raised the age from 18 to 21 to purchase long guns, such as rifles and shotguns. Accordingly, the issues involved in this case are not amenable to mediation. Mediation would not be a productive exercise, nor would it be a worthwhile use of the parties, or the courts, resources, the lawyers wrote. In Mondays order granting the request, Walker wrote this court finds good cause has been shown why the mediation requirement should be waived.
Gun safety bill stalls in Florida Legislature
Read full article: Gun safety bill stalls in Florida LegislatureIt would also strengthen laws governing gun storage and introduce new requirements for private sales. “We need four Republican votes would be my guess in the Senate to pass a bill and it would shock me if we don’t have four Republican votes for common sense gun safety,” Lee said last month. And as session reached its midpoint, Senate President Bill Galvano signaled the measure still had many obstacles to overcome. “Anytime a bill’s sponsor is pessimistic about passage of a massive gun control bill it’s a good thing," former NRA President Marion Hammer said. We continue to watch, we continue to work and we continue to fight.”Even if the bill were to pass the Senate, convincing the House and the Governor would likely be a daunting task.