FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) - The Latest on the deadly shooting at a Florida high school (all times local):
6:20 p.m.
Students returning from spring break to a Florida high school where 17 people died in a shooting last month will have to use clear backpacks provided by the district.
Broward County Superintendent Robert Runcie sent a letter to families Wednesday outlining security measures that are specific to Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, as well as measures for the entire district.
Florida’s governor has assigned state troopers to the school, and the district is also providing additional security.
Runcie’s letter says every public school in the county will be reduced to a single entry for visitors by the start of 2019. Runcie also noted that the county would receive $8.5 million from the state to post at least one school resource officer in every school and $6 million to expand mental health services next school year.
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3:40 p.m.
Florida residents won’t get a chance to vote this fall on adding gun control restrictions to the state constitution.
A state panel Wednesday rejected several proposed restrictions on procedural grounds. A majority of the Florida Constitution Revision Commission voted that the gun control measures were out of order and couldn’t be considered under commission rules.
Two of the rejected proposals would have asked voters whether they wanted to ban a type of semi-automatic rifle.
Roberto Martinez, a former federal prosecutor, wanted to give Floridians a chance to vote on restrictions identical to ones that were passed by the Florida Legislature. Those proposals include raising the age limit to buy a gun to 21 years old.
The commission meets every 20 years and is allowed to propose changes to the state constitution.
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1:05 p.m.
Florida Gov. Rick Scott has ordered the state’s highway patrol to station eight troopers at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School to bolster security at the site of last month’s massacre.
Scott’s office said Wednesday that the troopers will arrive Thursday morning at the Broward County school where 14 students and three staff members were gunned down Feb. 14.
The school already has additional security but this week the brother of the accused gunman, Nikolas Cruz, was found on campus on Monday and arrested for trespassing. He remains held on $500,000 bond. On Tuesday, two students were arrested for having knives on campus and a third was being evaluated after making online threats.
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11:10 a.m.
A judge has ordered a student accused of bringing a knife to the school where last month’s shooting rampage happened held on $12,500 bond.
The bond was set Wednesday for 18-year-old Jordan Salter, who was arrested at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. Investigators say Salter pulled out a knife with a 2-inch (5-centimeter) blade during a confrontation Tuesday with another student in the school cafeteria.
The SunSentinel reports that Salter’s lawyer Brian Reidy called the high bond “out of control” and “ridiculous” at a hearing and blamed on fear from the school shooting that killed 17 people. Reidy says Salter’s family will have difficulty making the bond.
The same judge on Tuesday imposed a $500,000 bond with numerous conditions on 18-year-old Zachary Cruz, brother of shooting suspect Nikolas Cruz. Zachary Cruz is accused of trespassing at the school.
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10:40 a.m.
News organizations including The Associated Press are seeking additional external surveillance video depicting the law enforcement response to the shooting at a Florida high school that killed 17 people.
A motion filed Wednesday asks a Broward County judge to determine how much video exists and whether it should be released. The motion says there were about 70 surveillance cameras at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School when the massacre took place Feb. 14 and many appear to show the actions of police officers and deputies.
Last week, the Broward Sheriff’s Office released a 27-minute video from some cameras showing ex-deputy Scot Peterson’s actions that day. Peterson retired after he was accused of failing to respond by remaining outside the building where the shooting took place.
Nineteen-year-old Nikolas Cruz faces 34 murder and attempted murder charges in the shooting.
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11:50 p.m.
The brother of Florida school shooting suspect Nikolas Cruz is sitting in the same jailhouse after a judge imposed a $500,000 bond on him for trespassing at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School where 17 people died.
Trespassing is a misdemeanor that usually involves only a $25 bond. But Broward County Judge Kim Theresa Mollica agreed with prosecutors that Zachary Cruz had been warned not to visit the school and that the enormity of the Valentine’s Day massacre warranted a much higher bond for him to gain his release.
Broward Sheriff’s Office deputies arrested Zachary Cruz on Monday afternoon, saying he rode his skateboard onto the campus where 19-year-old Nikolas Cruz is accused of carrying out the Feb. 14 shooting attack.
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