Florida gov. announcing plan to improve school safety

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Florida Gov. Rick Scott is expected to announce his plan Friday to improve school safety and outline ways to keep guns away from those with mental illness in wake of the Parkland school shooting. The announcement follows the emergency meetings Scott organized with mental health experts, law enforcement officials, school administrators and students earlier this week.

Scott is expected to announce his plan around 11 a.m. ET. His announcement will be livestreamed in the player above.

The shooting has once again started a national debate over gun laws and school safety. In response to the massacre, President Trump, along with others, have supported more people carrying guns on school grounds, including teachers. Gun-control advocates, however, have called for bans and restrictions on assault rifles.

Seventeen people were killed on Valentine’s Day when 19-year-old Nikolas Cruz allegedly opened fire on the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School campus. Fourteen others were injured in the attack. 

Cruz faces 17 charges of premeditated murder. He is being held without bond.

On Thursday, Broward County Sheriff Scott Israel announced armed security officer Scot Peterson had a chance to stop the shooting and did not. Video at the scene showed he never went inside, Israel said. The deputy has since resigned. 

There was also a 20 minute delay in the school’s video surveillance system that caused confusion for deputies who did go in to confront the shooter, making the information received on their radios inaccurate, though police say that did not endanger more lives.   

The massacre is the deadliest school shooting to occur in the U.S. in five years.