School Shootings

From Jan. 1 to June 30, the U.S. endured 28 mass killings, all but one of which involved guns. The death toll rose just about every week, a constant cycle of violence and grief.Six months. 181 days. 28 mass killings. 140 victims. One country.

Punta Gorda police chief Pamela Davis has been named as one of three new members of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas Public Safety Commission.

A Florida sheriff’s deputy was acquitted Thursday of felony child neglect and other charges for failing to act during the 2018 Parkland school massacre.

In response to nationwide school shootings and threats to its local schools, the Lee County School Board has approved a $3.2 million to purchase weapons detectors that will roll out for all K-12 public schools when students return for the 2023-2024 year.David Newlan, executive director of Safety, Security and Management for Lee schools, said he spent over a year researching security systems before choosing the portable, battery-operated OPENGATE system.

Senator Rick Scott formally introduced his School Guardian Act, which creates a block grant program administered by the U.S. Department of Justice to support the hiring of one or more law enforcement officers to provide full-time security at every K-12 school in the country.

The random checkpoints are one of multiple security measures that have been conducted for most of the semester, county school officials and the Lee County Sheriff's Office confirmed.

A call involving a possible active shooter was determined to be part of a number of “swatting” calls impacting schools around the country. "Swatting” is the action of making a prank call to emergency services in an attempt to garner a large number of law enforcement to a specific location.

Defense lawyers for the Parkland school shooter rested their case Wednesday, a move that came as a surprise–especially to the judge.

The shooting last May that killed 19 children and two teachers inside an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas, led to pledges by governors in several states to make classrooms safer. Here is a look at where school safety plans stand in several states as students nationwide return to school.