PARKLAND, Florida — The U.S. Army has given medals to three Junior Reserve Officers' Training Corps cadets killed in the Parkland school shooting last week, a spokesperson told The Daily Beast on Tuesday. 
 
 The Medal of Heroism was presented to the family of Alaina Petty at a memorial service on Monday, the Army said, and will be given to the family of Peter Wang during his memorial service today. Martin Duque’s family will be given the medal on Saturday, the Army added. The medal recognizes cadets whose performance “involved the acceptance of danger and extraordinary responsibilities.” 
 
 All three students were allegedly killed by a fellow JROTC member, Nikolas Cruz, at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School on Wednesday. 
 
 During the shooting, Wang, 15, held open a door to allow his fellow classmates to escape to safety. Students told the South Florida Sun Sentinel, “He is so funny, caring and selfless.’’ Wang’s older cousin added, “He is so brave.” 
 
 Petty, 14, was “excited to be part of the female color guard team and every day she would come home and tell me all the fun things she had learned,” Petty's mother told the Sun Sentinel. Duque, also 14, was remembered by family members as a football fan and a regular churchgoer, the Miami Herald reported. “He was sweet, affectionate and loved by his entire family. But above all else, he was my little brother,” Duque's brother Miguel wrote on a GoFundMe page to help cover additional funeral expenses. 
 
 Military veterans are expected to attend Wang’s funeral on Tuesday. 
 
 —Elisha Brown contributed to this report ||||| Image copyright Getty Images Image caption Peter Wang was one of 17 killed in February's mass school shooting 
 
 A junior cadet who died helping other students escape a Florida school shooting has been posthumously accepted into a prestigious US military school. 
 
 Peter Wang, 15, one of 17 killed in the 14 February attack, was admitted to the class of 2025 at his dream school, West Point Academy. 
 
 He was a member of the US Army Junior Reserve Officers' Training Corps (JROTC), a school programme for potential US military officers. 
 
 His funeral took place on Tuesday. 
 
 The school will confer a letter of admission and honorarium tokens to his family, local West Point alumnus Chad Maxey told the Sun Sentinel newspaper. 
 
 Florida Governor Rick Scott also reportedly directed the state's National Guard to honour Peter and two other members of the JROTC at their funerals. 
 
 Image copyright BBC (supplied) Image caption Peter Wang was reportedly wearing his JROTC uniform when he died 
 
 The US Army bestowed the Medal of Heroism on three students who were killed, including Peter, according to US media. 
 
 The Cadet Command also approved Junior ROTC Heroism Medals for 14-year-old cadets Alaina Petty and Martin Duque, an army spokesman told US media. 
 
 Peter was in uniform when he was fatally shot while holding the door for others fleeing a gunman at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, witnesses say. 
 
 Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Students staged an anti-gun 'lie-in' 
 
 The recognition comes after an online petition called for him to be laid to rest with military honours, saying he "deserves" to be buried as a hero, because "his selfless and heroic actions have led to the survival of dozens in the area". 
 
 Peter, who had spent part of his childhood in his parents' native China, had dreamed of attending the West Point military academy, friends say. 
 
 Jesse Pan, a neighbour and longstanding friend of Peter's family, told the BBC Chinese Service he had tried to support the teenager's parents as they struggled to cope with the loss. 
 
 "I was there with his parents, helping translating and finding a funeral home," he said. 
 
 "His parents fainted as soon as they saw his body. He had got multiple shots in front… So horrible." 
 
 Meanwhile, about 100 students from Stoneman Douglas have travelled by bus to the Florida state capitol, where they plan to hold a rally against gun violence on Wednesday. 
 
 Some of them arrived on Tuesday in time to see the Republican-controlled state legislature reject a proposed ban on assault weapons and large capacity magazines. 
 
 State lawmakers voted down the measure after opening their session with a prayer for the victims of the Parkland high school shooting. 
 
 Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption As a gunman opened fire in a Florida high school, students inside reached for their phones. 
 
 The students, whose school is shut until 27 February, are hoping their march inspires others across the US. 
 
 A larger protest is being planned for Washington DC on 24 March. 
 
 US President Donald Trump on Tuesday called for a ban on rapid-fire "bump stock" devices, which were used last October's Las Vegas massacre, but not in the Florida high school attack. 
 
 The Parkland school was the scene of a deadly rampage last week, when an ex-student allegedly opened fire with an AR-15 assault rifle. 
 
 The suspect, Nikolas Cruz, had moved in with a friend, who also attended the school, after his adoptive mother died in 2017. 
 
 The parents who hosted Mr Cruz, James and Kimberly Snead, told CBS News the teenager was depressed but they did not realise how troubled he was. 
 
 Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Emma Gonzalez told a rally that the massacre was not only a mental health issue 
 
 "The Nik we knew was not the Nik that everybody else seemed to know," James Snead told CBS. 
 
 "He pulled one over on us. As well as a lot of people," Mrs Snead said. 
 
 Mr Snead, a US army veteran, said he knew Mr Cruz had guns but believed he had the only key to the safe where they were located. 
 
 He added that it was Mr Cruz's right to have guns. 
 
 Image copyright ABC Image caption James and Kimberly Snead told ABC about how they took in the troubled teenager after his adopted mum died 
 
 Law enforcement officials say that Mr Cruz legally purchased seven rifles in the last year, despite several mental health warnings. 
 
 The couple also told ABC News that Mr Cruz had texted their son only three minutes before the attack began in Parkland, Florida, to say he was "going to the movies". 
 
 When they first saw him at the police station after he was arrested, he "mumbled" an apology to the parents. 
 
 Documents obtained by CBS show that Mr Cruz and his late adoptive mother, Lynda Cruz, were visited by Florida's Department of Children and Families (DCF) after allegations of medical neglect in September 2016. 
 
 The investigator reportedly determined that Mr Cruz suffered from depression, ADHD and autism, had cut his arms in a post on social media and once plastered a racist message on his school backpack. 
 
 Officials closed the investigation after deciding he was not being mistreated, according to CBS News. ||||| Less than a month after a gunman opened fire at a high school in Kentucky, the nation is grappling with yet another school shooting. 
 
 Wednesday’s massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, killed at least 17 people and wounded over a dozen others. The suspected gunman, 19-year-old Nikolas Cruz, set off fire alarms to lure hundreds of students out of their classrooms so he could open fire with a semi-automatic AR-15 assault rifle. 
 
 Cruz was captured about an hour later in Coral Springs, roughly a mile away from the school. The following day, Cruz told authorities he shot "students that he saw in the hallways and on school grounds," according to an arrest affidavit. 
 
 “There really are no words,” Broward Sheriff Scott Israel said the day of the shooting. 
 
 But in wake of the tragedy, the deadliest school shooting since Sandy Hook in 2012, the Broward community has received an outpouring of support. 
 
 Read on to see what’s being done to help the shooting victims, their families, the local community and beyond. 
 
 Comfort dogs arrive in Broward County 
 
 At least 18 “comfort” dogs and 33 handlers arrived in Broward County from across the country, Tim Hetzner, the president and CEO of the nonprofit ministry Lutheran Church Charities (LCC), told Fox News. 
 
 Jacob, a doe-eyed Golden Retriever, was first on the scene. He spent the day comforting students and faculty at the high school. 
 
 “Dogs are good listeners and have a unique way of knowing when people are hurting,” he said. 
 
 Like Jacob, all dogs used in LCC’s comfort dog program are Golden Retrievers – a breed chosen by the organization because “goldens are lovers by nature,” Hetzner said. LCC trains the dogs for 16 to 18 months and then places them in affiliated churches, schools and other ministries across the country. 
 
 The dogs, which are trained to the level of a service dog, travel across the U.S. with their handlers whenever there is a crisis. 
 
 While the dogs are there to comfort the students and faculty at the high school, their services are also available to parents, first responders and anyone in the Broward community “struggling with what took place.” 
 
 “We go where we’re invited," Hetzner said. “We’re there to serve people and show mercy and compassion.” 
 
 To help offset transportation costs, you can donate here. 
 
 Donate to the victims' fund 
 
 The Broward Education Foundation, a nonprofit that raises money for the public schools in Broward County, has set up an official GoFundMe donation page for the victims of the Stoneman Douglas shooting. 
 
 As of Monday morning, the fund received more than $1.5 million of its $2 million goal – a significant increase from its initial goal of $300,000. The foundation will continue to increase the goal each time it's met, PeJay Ryan, the director of marketing at the Broward Education Foundation, told Fox News. 
 
 All of the proceeds will go to those affected by the tragedy, Ryan said, as well as anyone who may need grief counseling. 
 
 “We’ve all cried a lot - first in horror, but then because of the outpouring generosity and compassion.” - PeJay Ryan 
 
 Memorial bracelets to honor the victims are also being created. And the foundation worked with Bank of America to set up a text-to-donate option as well, she said. To donate to the Stoneman Douglas fund, text PARKLAND to 20222. 
 
 “We are in a unique position here, no one expected this to happen,” said Ryan. “We’ve all cried a lot – first in horror, but then because of the outpouring generosity and compassion.” 
 
 You can donate to the GoFundMe campaign here. 
 
 Additionally, at least one scholarship fund has been set up in the name of one of Wednesday's shooting victims. 
 
 If you live in Florida, consider donating blood 
 
 If you live in Florida, a local blood center is asking for your help, especially if your blood type is O negative. 
 
 “While the immediate blood needs have been met, there is a need to replenish the area's O negative blood supply. O negative is the universal blood type and is used to treat trauma patients,” OneBlood said in a statement. 
 
 As of Feb. 19, at least four shooting victims were still being treated at local hospitals. 
 
 To donate, find a location here. 
 
 Florida attorney general vows to cover funeral expenses 
 
 Florida Attorney General Pamela Bondi announced Wednesday that her office would pay for the funeral expenses of the 17 victims who died as a result of the shooting. 
 
 "We will pay for the funeral expenses of these poor victims," Bondi said. "We will take care of it." 
 
 Free transportation for victims’ families 
 
 JetBlue Airways is providing free transportation for family members of victims who are traveling to Florida, the airline announced in a blog post. 
 
 “This week’s events are felt by all of our 21,000 crewmembers, many of whom live in, work from and travel through the Broward County area, home to our Focus City, Fort Lauderdale," JetBlue said. "We want to do our part to help the community, and support South Florida through this difficult time." 
 
 Volunteers in the Family Assistance Center will help people book the free travel, the airline said. 
 
 Once the families have arrived in Florida, ride-sharing service Lyft will provide free ground transportation in partnership with JetBlue, spokesperson Campbell Matthews confirmed to Fox News, adding the company is "heartbroken by the tragedy." 
 
 JetBlue is also partnering with the Florida Panthers hockey team to hold a blood drive on Feb. 22. 
 
 Fox News' Kaitlyn Schallhorn and Shira Bush contributed to this report. ||||| Parents meet at a hotel in Coral Springs, Fla., Wednesday, Feb. 14, 2018, to pick up their children, following a shooting at nearby Marjory Stoneman Douglas High in Parkland, Fla. A former student opened... (Associated Press) 
 
 Parents meet at a hotel in Coral Springs, Fla., Wednesday, Feb. 14, 2018, to pick up their children, following a shooting at nearby Marjory Stoneman Douglas High in Parkland, Fla. A former student opened fire at the Florida high school Wednesday, killing more than a dozen people and sending scores of... (Associated Press) 
 
 PARKLAND, Fla. (AP) — The Latest on the deadly shooting at a Florida high school (all times local): 
 
 9:55 p.m. 
 
 Broward County Sheriff Scott Israel says the 19-year-old suspect in the deadly school shooting, Nikolas Cruz, had been expelled from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School for "disciplinary reasons." 
 
 Israel says he doesn't know the specifics of what happened. 
 
 But Victoria Olvera, a 17-year-old junior, says Cruz was expelled last school year after a fight with his ex-girlfriend's new boyfriend. 
 
 School officials haven't confirmed such accounts, but say Cruz was attending another school in Florida's Broward County after his expulsion. 
 
 One 17-year-old junior, Dakota Mutchler, says he used to be friends with Cruz but hadn't seen him in more than a year after his expulsion. He says of Cruz: "He started progressively getting a little more weird." 
 
 ___ 
 
 This story has been corrected show that Dakota's last name is Mutchler, not Mentcher. 
 
 __ 
 
 9:30 p.m. 
 
 Florida Gov. Rick Scott has joined law enforcement agents near the site of the deadly school shooting and offered his condolences to the victims' families and survivors. He says the attack that claimed at least 17 lives "is just absolutely pure evil." 
 
 Scott told reporters Wednesday evening he can't imagine what the families of the victims are going through. He also said he would be visiting hospitalized survivors. 
 
 Sheriff Scott Israel of Broward County also said at the news conference that 12 of the dead have been identified but some weren't carrying identification and that slowed confirmation efforts. The families are being notified. 
 
 Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi says the state will cover funeral expenses for the victims and counseling for survivors. 
 
 ____ 
 
 9:15 p.m. 
 
 A law enforcement official says the former student suspected of killing at least 17 people at a South Florida high school posted highly disturbing material on social media before the shooting rampage. 
 
 Broward County Sheriff Scott Israel said Wednesday the 19-year-old suspect, Nikolas Cruz, had been expelled from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School for unspecified disciplinary reasons. 
 
 Israel says investigators are dissecting the suspect's social media posts and found material that is "very, very disturbing." He didn't elaborate. 
 
 An ex-schoolmate recalled Cruz posting on Instagram about killing animals and said he talked of doing target practice in his backyard with a pellet gun. 
 
 A school superintendent, Robert Runcie, told reporters he didn't know of any concerns raised about Cruz. 
 
 ___ 
 
 8:35 p.m. 
 
 A student who escaped the deadly shooting at a Florida high school says he knew the suspect when he attended the school, describing him as a "weird kid" and something of a "loner." 
 
 Authorities said 19-year-old Nikolas Cruz is in custody after the attack Wednesday that claimed 17 lives at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland. Officials say Cruz was a former student, having been expelled from the school. 
 
 Student Daniel Huerfano told The Associated Press he remembers seeing Cruz walking around the school with his lunch bag, adding, "He was that weird kid that you see ... like a loner." 
 
 ___ 
 
 8:15 p.m. 
 
 Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida says he is "devastated and saddened" by the deadly shooting attack on a high school in his state. 
 
 The Republican senator says he remains ready to assist state and local officials and "anyone impacted by this horrible tragedy." He also said in his statement Wednesday that he hopes authorities can find out in coming hours and days more about why and how the killer "carried out this carnage." 
 
 Meanwhile, Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman-Schultz of Florida has also issued condolences. She called the attack in Parkland, Florida, "another senseless school shooting ... this time in our community." 
 
 ____ 
 
 7:50 p.m. 
 
 Former Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords says the deadly school shooting in Florida should "strike fear into all Americans." 
 
 The Democrat from Arizona was shot in the head and survived a shooting attack in 2011. 
 
 She said in a statement Wednesday that her heart goes out to the victims and survivors of the school shooting that claimed 17 lives in Parkland, Florida. She called it the latest attack in an epidemic of gun violence that continues "days after deadly day." 
 
 She also says in a statement that the latest in a series of deadly U.S. shootings should stir fresh resolve in Congress to "find the courage to pass the laws we need to protect our children." 
 
 ____ 
 
 7:30 p.m. 
 
 Sen. Bill Nelson of Florida says the shooter in the attack on a high school in his state wore a gas mask and had smoke grenades. 
 
 The Florida Democrat said in an interview with CNN that he was briefed on the attack by the FBI. 
 
 Nelson says the attacker "set off the fire alarm so the kids would come pouring out of the classrooms into the hall. And there the carnage began." 
 
 Nelson says he did not know if the gunman had used the smoke grenades but he assumed that's why he had a gas mask on. 
 
 ___ 
 
 7:15 p.m. 
 
 Doctors say 16 people wounded in a deadly shooting at a Florida high school were taken to area hospitals for treatment and two of them have died. 
 
 Dr. Evan Boyar at Broward Health North told reporters Wednesday that eight victims and the suspect had been brought to his hospital. Boyar says two victims died, three were in critical condition and three were in stable condition. He says three patients were still in the operating room Wednesday evening. The suspect was treated and released to police. 
 
 Boyar says all the victims were shot but declined to comment on their ages or the extent of their wounds. 
 
 Eight other victims were taken to other hospitals, but he did not have information on their conditions. 
 
 Broward County Sheriff Scott Israel says a 19-year-old former student has been arrested in the shooting that killed 17 people. 
 
 ___ 
 
 This item has been clarified to note that 16 people were transported to be treated but two of them died. 
 
 ___ 
 
 6:35 p.m. 
 
 Democratic Rep. Ted Deutch of Florida says lawmakers have offered their condolences after the latest school shooting, this one in his district. 
 
 Deutch says he found his colleagues' outreach — in his words — both "heartwarming and obscene." Authorities say 17 people died in Wednesday's attack in Parkland, Florida, and the suspect, a 19-year-old former student, is in custody. 
 
 The congressman says he uses the word "obscene" because school shootings have become so commonplace that lawmakers were offering him guidance on what to expect in coming days as constituents grapple with the tragedy. 
 
 Deutch says it's time to find ways to save lives. He says he wants President Donald Trump to call those concerned to the White House to "do something" about gun violence. 
 
 ____ 
 
 6:30 p.m. 
 
 A Florida sheriff says that 12 of the 17 confirmed deaths in Wednesday's shooting attack on a high school were found in the school. 
 
 Broward County Sheriff Scott Israel says the attack began outside the school Wednesday afternoon. 
 
 He told reporters that authorities subsequently found 12 people dead in the building and two more dead just outside the school and one more in a nearby street. Israel says two other people died later under medical treatment. 
 
 Israel says the suspect, a 19-year-old former student of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, is in custody. He says the male suspect was checked out at a hospital after his arrest and is now being held at a secure location in a public building. 
 
 ___ 
 
 6:05 p.m. 
 
 A sheriff says 17 people have died in the shooting attack on a South Florida high school. 
 
 Sheriff Scott Israel of Broward County says the 19-year-old suspect is in custody and that investigators are beginning to "dissect" what happened in the attack Wednesday at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland. 
 
 He says the suspect, a former student, was previously expelled for disciplinary reasons. 
 
 Israel says the man had at least one AR-15 rifle as well as multiple magazines. 
 
 He says most of the fatalities were inside the building though some were found fatally shot outside. 
 
 ___ 
 
 5:40 p.m. 
 
 A man says he watched as officers arrested the suspect in the shooting at a Florida high school, where authorities are reporting numerous deaths. 
 
 Michael Nembhard told The Associated Press he was in his garage watching TV news coverage of the shooting when he heard a police officer repeatedly yelling, "get on the ground!" 
 
 Nembhard says he looked up to see a teenage boy on the ground about 150 yards (meters) away with an officer pointing a gun at him. The officer stood over the boy until other officers arrived, handcuffed him and led him away. 
 
 A federal official who spoke on condition of anonymity identified the suspect as Nicolas Cruz. The official says he wasn't authorized to discuss it publicly. 
 
 Authorities say the suspect is a former student about 18 years old. 
 
 ____ 
 
 5:20 p.m. 
 
 Authorities have identified the Florida school shooting suspect as Nikolas Cruz. 
 
 A federal official who identified the suspect spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity. The official said he had been briefed on the investigation into the shooting at the South Florida high school, but was not authorized to discuss it publicly. 
 
 Authorities in Florida say the shooter opened fire at the school Wednesday afternoon, killing "numerous" people. The shooting sent frightened students running out into the streets and SWAT team members swarming the building. 
 
 Authorities later announced that they had taken a former student into custody after locating him off the school grounds. 
 
 ___ 
 
 This item has been corrected to show authorities are now identifying the suspect as Nikolas Cruz. Authorities had previously identified the suspect with a different spelling of his first name. 
 
 ___ 
 
 5 p.m. 
 
 Broward County Sheriff Scott Israel says the Florida high school shooting suspect is a former student about 18 years old. 
 
 He says the suspect was arrested without incident off school grounds in a nearby community. He didn't elaborate on when the suspect had attended Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland. 
 
 A shooter opened fire at the school Wednesday afternoon, killing "numerous" people, sending students running out into the streets and SWAT team members swarming in before authorities took the shooter into custody. 
 
 Israel says the FBI has arrived and will begin processing what he describes as "horrific scene." 
 
 He called it a "catastrophic day." 
 
 ___ 
 
 4:40 p.m. 
 
 Parents described scenes of chaos as they rushed to find their frightened children after a shooting at a South Florida high school. 
 
 Caesar Figueroa says he was one of the first parents to arrive at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, seeking his 16-year-old daughter after the shooting there. 
 
 A shooter opened fire at the school Wednesday, killing several people and sending students running out into the streets as SWAT team members swarming in. Authorities later reported they had taken the shooting suspect into custody. 
 
 Figueroa says: "It was crazy and my daughter wasn't answering her phone." 
 
 According to Figueroa, she texted him that she was hidden in a school closet with friends after she heard gunshots. 
 
 ___ 
 
 4:25 p.m. 
 
 A school official says there are numerous fatalities from the high school shooting in South Florida. 
 
 Broward County Superintendent Robert Runcie sayid Wednesday afternoon: "There are numerous fatalities. It is a horrific situation." He added, "It is a horrible day for us." 
 
 The Broward County Sheriff's Office tweeted Wednesday afternoon that "so far we have at least 14 victims." The tweet added: "Victims have been and continue to be transported to Broward Health Medical Center and Broward Health North hospital." 
 
 The sheriff's statement didn't elaborate on the victims or the extent of their injuries. 
 
 ___ 
 
 4:15 p.m. 
 
 The White House has canceled its daily press briefing after a Florida high school shooting that sent students rushing into the streets. 
 
 President Donald Trump has spoken with Florida Gov. Rick Scott about the shooting. He says in a tweet that the White House is "working closely with law enforcement on the terrible Florida school shooting." 
 
 He earlier tweeted his condolences to the families of the victims. 
 
 Spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders says Trump has offered Florida federal assistance, if needed. The homeland security secretary has also been in touch with state and local officials. 
 
 Sanders says, "We continue to keep the victims, and their friends and family, in our thoughts and prayers." 
 
 ___ 
 
 4:10 p.m. 
 
 Authorities say the shooter at a South Florida high school is now in custody. 
 
 The Broward County Sheriff's Office gave no details in briefly tweeting that development. It did not identify the shooting suspect nor say how the person was taken into custody. 
 
 Television footage showed police putting a person in the back of a police car outside the high school. 
 
 ___ 
 
 4 p.m. 
 
 Parent John Obin says his son, a freshman at the South Florida high school where the shooting erupted, was in class when he heard several shots. The father says his son advised that teachers quickly rushed students out of the school. He adds the boy told his father that he walked by two people on the ground motionless — and apparently dead — as students rushed outside. 
 
 Obin says: "This is a really good school, and now it's like a war zone." 
 
 Coral Springs Police said on their Twitter account Wednesday that Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School was locked down and that students and teachers inside should remain barricaded until police reach them. 
 
 ___ 
 
 3:55 p.m. 
 
 The shooting at a South Florida high school sent students rushing into the streets as SWAT team members swarmed in and locked down the building. Police were warning that the shooter was still at large even as ambulances converged on the scene and emergency workers appeared to be treating those possibly wounded. 
 
 Aerial television news footage showed police in olive fatigues, with weapons drawn, entering the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland. Then dozens of students could be seen frantically running and others quickly walking out. A police officer waved the students on, urging them to quickly evacuate the school. 
 
 Some students exited the building in single-file rows with hands raised overhead to show they carried no weapons. Others held onto other students as they made their way out past helmeted police in camouflage with weapons drawn. 
 
 __ 
 
 3:45 p.m. 
 
 Len Murray's 17-year-old son, a junior at the South Florida high school where shooting was reported, sent his parents a chilling text: "Mom and Dad, there have been shots fired on campus at school. There are police sirens outside. I'm in the auditorium and the doors are locked." 
 
 Those words came at 2:30 p.m. Wednesday. A few minutes later, he texted again: "I'm fine." 
 
 Murray raced to the school only to be stopped by authorities under a highway overpass within view of the school buildings in Parkland. 
 
 No information was immediately given to parents, Len Murray says. And he says he remained worried for all those inside. 
 
 "I'm scared for the other parents here. You can see the concern in everybody's faces. Everybody is asking, 'Have you hard from your child yet?'" 
 
 ___ 
 
 3:15 p.m. 
 
 Authorities say a shooter at a Florida high school is still at large. 
 
 The Broward Sheriff's Office shared the information on its Twitter account after Wednesday afternoon's shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland. 
 
 It wasn't immediately clear how many people were wounded. 
 
 ___ 
 
 2:30 p.m. 
 
 Authorities say they're responding to a shooting at a Florida high school. 
 
 The Broward Sheriff's Office has told news outlets the shooting occurred Wednesday afternoon at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland. 
 
 It wasn't immediately clear how many people were wounded. 
 
 ____ 
 
 Associated Press writers Terry Spencer, Kelli Kennedy, Jennifer Kay, Jason Dearen, Freida Frisaro, David Fischer, Ian Mader, Curt Anderson, Adriana Gomez Licon, Gary Fineout, Lisa Pane and Josh Replogle contributed to this report. 
 
 . ||||| PARKLAND, Fla. - Several parents of victims of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School massacre said that if former Broward Sheriff's Office Deputy Scot Peterson, who stood outside the school for several minutes while bullets rang out, had done his job, their children might not have lost their lives. 
 
 "I think Peterson is the lowest form of life available," said Fred Guttenberg, whose daughter Jaime was gunned down on the third floor. "My daughter would be alive if not for him." 
 
 Broward County Sheriff Scott Israel publicly criticized Peterson for his inaction during the shooting that left 17 dead and others wounded, but he didn't fire the 54-year-old deputy, instead allowing him to resign. Local 10 News caught up with Peterson outside his home in Boynton Beach, where he is living on his $100,000-a-year public pension. The deputy, who had yet to face any media, simply turned and hurried inside, saying only, "Don't come on my property." 
 
 But now, a report that recently surfaced has some victims' families calling for a renewed investigation of Peterson for a case he handled four years to the day prior to the massacre. The case involved two 17-year-old students bullying a 14-year-old freshman, with one holding down the younger boy by his ankles while the other kicked the victim, grabbed his genitals and then took the victim's own baseball bat and began shoving it against his buttocks, simulating rape, through the boy's clothes. 
 
 One of those assailants, the boy who allegedly held down the victim, was Israel's son, Brett. Defense attorney Alex Arreaza, who represents shooting victim Anthony Borges, who was shot five times in the Valentine's Day massacre but survived, said the case could have led to felony charges. 
 
 "He could be charged with a lewd and lascivious, and I'm being conservative," Arreaza said. 
 
 Peterson claims in the report that it was a "simple battery" under the board's discipline matrix, and he decided to give both of the boy's attackers a three-day suspension. 
 
 "What is that? Is that like an alternative universe law?" Arreaza said. "What happens? Because you're in the school you don't have to obey regular laws?" 
 
 In fact, the disciplinary matrix includes "sexual misconduct" and "serious" battery, both of which, arguably, apply in this case. 
 
 "You will never see somebody grabbing somebody's crotch and poking some kid in the butt with a bat and getting a simple battery for it," Arreaza said when asked if he believed the sheriff's son received preferential treatment. 
 
 When Local 10 relayed the facts of the incident to him for the first time, Guttenberg said it "infuriated" him. 
 
 "Scot Peterson failed to do his job again," he said. "It's just another example of a bad crime and somebody not being held accountable. It's kind of interesting the intersection of the same people." 
 
 For Andrew Pollack, whose daughter Meadow was also killed on the third floor at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, the case appears to be another incident of undue leniency for students accused of crimes, much of it stemming from the controversial PROMISE program designed to keep minors out of jail. The school shooter, Nikolas Cruz, never faced any charges despite numerous incidents inside and outside of school, including one that led to a referral to the PROMISE program, with which Superintendent Robert Runcie claimed Cruz had never been associated. 
 
 Pollack also said he believed Peterson's handling of the incident may have provided Peterson job security at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. 
 
 "[Peterson] was lazy and this could have given him protection to keep his job at the school during those four years," Pollack said. 
 
 In a written statement, Borges' father, Royer Borges, said, "Maybe if Deputy Peterson would have been made to answer for this, he may have been replaced by a more competent deputy." 
 
 "If this wouldn't have been the sheriff's son, would a sexual assault have been reduced to a simple battery?" he went on to say. 
 
 Peterson noted in his report that the victim's parents were notified of the discipline and "did not request additional law enforcement action." The mother of the victim confirmed this to Local 10, saying the family members only wanted to put the matter behind them and that her son had made peace with the sheriff's son. 
 
 Israel didn't reply to multiple requests for comment from Local 10. 
 
 Both Borges and Guttenberg said they believe Peterson's handling of the assault should be investigated. 
 
 "I don't care if it was four days ago or four years ago," Guttenberg said. "If people didn't do their job and they failed in their responsibilities, it should be investigated." 
 
 
 
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– He might not get a full military funeral, but Parkland school shooting victim Peter Wang will get a nod from the US Army. The 15-year-old old Junior Reserve Officers' Training Corps member who held doors open for students and staff fleeing bullets at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School last week will be honored with a Medal of Heroism, presented to his family at a memorial service Tuesday, reports the Daily Beast, which notes the medal is given to those whose actions "involved the acceptance of danger and extraordinary responsibilities." A medal was presented to relatives of 14-year-old JROTC member Alaina Petty at a memorial service Monday—the Florida Attorney General's Office is covering funeral costs for all 17 shooting victims—and will be given to 14-year-old Martin Duque's family on Saturday, the Army says. Alex Schachter, another 14-year-old killed in the shooting, is being honored with a scholarship fund totaling more than $125,000 as of this writing. It's designed to "fund increased security at schools" and help students "experience the joys of music," according to a GoFundMe page. Another arranged by the Broward Education Foundation has raised $1.7 million to be used "to provide relief and financial support" to victims and family members, who've received free transportation from JetBlue Airways. "We've all cried a lot—first in horror, but then because of the outpouring (of) generosity and compassion," BEF marketing director PeJay Ryan tells Fox News. Some 18 comfort dogs trained by Lutheran Church Charities are also providing relief. They "are good listeners and have a unique way of knowing when people are hurting," says CEO Tim Hetzner.