Parkland School Shooting: Tape Delay Blamed for Confusion That Allowed Suspect to Escape
Police watching surveillance footage of last week's school shooting in Parkland, Fla. believed the cameras were recording in real time, but that was unfortunately not the case, according to a startling revelation.
There was chaos and confusion as police responded to Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School on Feb. 14. Unbeknownst to them, the footage they were watching of the carnage was on a 20-minute delay.
And by the time they learned the truth, the gunman had fled the location.
Frantic calls heard on police dispatch revealed the apparent confusion.
“We need somebody with the camera systems ASAP. Where's the principal? Who's with the principal? And we need to start making a plan here,” one cop is heard saying.
Cruz was finally captured, more than an hour later, after escaping with the other students and sitting down at a McDonalds to eat lunch.
Meanwhile, a hero of the massacre was laid to rest Thursday.
Football coach Aaron Feis, who was shot dead while using his body to shield students, was mourned at a funeral held Thursday.
That same day, President Trump met with governors and other state officials, and proposed additional pay for teachers and school officials who carry guns.
"We have to harden our schools, not soften them up. A gun-free zone to a killer or somebody that wants to be a killer, that's like going in for the ice cream," he said. "Like, 'Here I am — take me.'"
He added: "Shooters won't walk into a school if 20 percent of people have guns."
Parents, loved ones, friends, and students touched by mass shootings gathered in Washington Wednesday to speak with the president about reform.
The emotionally charged summit made headlines after grieving dad Andrew Pollack, who lost his 18-year-old daughter, Meadow, in Parkland, declared, "I’m pissed," in an emphatic speech about how there must be reform after the murder of his child and her classmates.
"My daughter has no voice," he said. "She was murdered last week and she was taken from us. Shot nine times of the third floor."
Pollack captured the hearts of all of us as he stood with his sons. Incredibly, on the day of last week's shooting, he came under attack on social media after he was photographed wearing a "Trump 2020" shirt.
The photo was taken as he desperately searched for his daughter in the wake of the shooting.
“If you voted for Donald Trump you have blood on your hands,” went one tweet.
Another said: "I feel sorry for daughter but not for him."
Also during Wednesday's meeting, the president was photographed holding a note card that listed his notes, including, “What would you most want me to know about your experience?" "What can we do to help you feel safe?" "Resources? Ideas?" and "I hear you."
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