FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) - The Latest on the school shooting in Florida (all times local):
12:40 p.m.
Security video shows a Florida sheriff’s deputy go toward the high school building while a gunman massacred 17 students and staff members, but he stayed outside with his handgun drawn.
The Broward County Sheriff’s Office released the video Thursday showing Deputy Scot Peterson’s actions during the Feb. 14 shooting. It shows him and a staff member rushing toward the building in a cart. He pulls his weapon and takes up a position outside the building. During much of the shooting, the camera’s view of Peterson is blocked by a light pole but parts of him occasionally appear.
Sheriff Scott Israel blasted Peterson eight days after the shooting, saying Peterson should have “went in, addressed the killer, killed the killer.”
The 54-year-old deputy retired rather than accept a suspension. He is still being investigated by internal affairs.
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11:05 a.m.
Authorities are set to release surveillance video showing what happened outside Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School during the Valentine’s Day massacre that killed 17 people.
A Florida judge earlier this week agreed with news outlets including The Associated Press that the video should be released. Barring any last-minute appeals, the release is set for noon Thursday.
Police and school officials had resisted the release, saying it was evidence in an active investigation.
Authorities say it depicts actions during the shooting by former deputy Scot Peterson, who was armed and assigned to the school but did not enter the targeted building during the shooting.
Video of what happened inside the school is not being released.
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11:15 p.m.
While students across the nation walked out of school amid the national gun control debate, the 19-year-old accused of killing 17 people and wounding more in the Florida school shooting sat in court silently with his head bowed.
Nikolas Cruz sat motionless in the jury box and said nothing during a brief hearing Wednesday. Because he refused to announce his plea, a judge entered a not guilty plea on his behalf on each of the 34 counts he faces - mainly to keep the legal process moving.
His attorney reiterated that Cruz would plead guilty if prosecutors waived the death penalty, which they refused to do.
Cruz is accused of carrying out the massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida that also wounded 17 other people.
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