A student walks past the media at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., Wednesday, Feb. 28, 2018. Students returned to class for the first time since a former student opened fire there... (Associated Press) 
 
 PARKLAND, Fla. (AP) — The Latest on the return of students and teachers to classes following the killings of 17 people at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School(all times local): 
 
 9:20 a.m. 
 
 Students are returning to the Florida high school where 17 were killed in a shooting two weeks ago, but they've been told to leave their backpacks at home. 
 
 Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School principal Ty Thomas said in a tweet that "our focus is on emotional readiness and comfort not curriculum: so there is no need for backpacks." 
 
 About 50 armed officers were on hand as students returned to the school Wednesday morning. 
 
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 8:30 a.m. 
 
 Dick's Sporting Goods will immediately end sales of assault-style rifles in its stores and won't sell guns to anyone under 21 years old following the school massacre in Parkland, Florida. 
 
 Dick's Chairman and CEO Edward Stack said on ABC's "Good Morning America" on Wednesday that after the shooting the company "felt it needed to do something." 
 
 Stack says that the accused gunman, 19-year-old Nickolas Cruz, had purchased a gun at a Dick's store, but not the one used at the school shooting, even though all existing rules were followed. Stack says the system that's in place won't stop sales to dangerous people and said lawmakers must do something. 
 
 Stack said Dick's is prepared for any potential backlash, but won't change its policies on gun sales. 
 
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 7:40 a.m. 
 
 One of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School students who has become a leader in the anti-assault weapon campaign says he felt scared when he saw a photo of a police officer armed with a rifle outside his school. 
 
 David Hogg said it was a picture of education in fear in this country. Hogg has been calling for an assault weapon ban since the Valentine's Day massacre killed 17 people at his school. 
 
 Hogg has spent the last two weeks making the rounds on network talk shows and speaking with legislators in Tallahassee, seeking gun legislation. 
 
 Students returned to the school Wednesday for the first time since the deadly shooting. 
 
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 7:15 a.m. 
 
 Members of the Broward County Police Benevolent Association handed carnations out to students as they entered Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School two weeks after a former student gunned down 17 people inside the freshman building. 
 
 For Madison Geller, Wednesday offered an opportunity to get back into a routine, in spite of her fears. 
 
 "When I walk in there, I'm going to replay the whole thing in my head. But we have to come here and try to learn," the high school junior said. "This week we will try to be comfortable and get back into the same routine." 
 
 Angelyse Perez, a senior, said returning offers a chance for everyone to "get through this and be together." 
 
 "But I'm graduating," she said. "I just want to get out of here." 
 
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 6:30 a.m. 
 
 Teachers and students are arriving early at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, their first day back after an expelled classmate with an AR-15 killed 17 people in a Valentine's Day massacre that has profoundly altered the lives of survivors. 
 
 A long line of cars bringing people back to the school in Parkland, Florida is being guided by police as dozens of television trucks and vehicles camp out nearby. 
 
 Only students, parents and staff are being allowed through a security cordon. The main entrance is covered with a sign saying "Welcome Back Eagles." 
 
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 2 a.m. 
 
 The walkway leading onto the campus of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School is lined with flowers and photographs, memorials to the 17 students and teachers killed in a Valentine's Day massacre that forever altered their lives and thrust them into the center of the nation's gun debate. 
 
 Alexis Grogan, a 15-year-old sophomore, was among those planning to wear maroon, a Stoneman Douglas color, among other things honoring those who died. She said she's nervous after losing her friend Luke Hoyer, who sat two seats behind her in Spanish. Still, she says support from her fellow students and their fight to strengthen gun control laws is keeping her strong. 
 
 Relatives of the victims kept up pressure Tuesday in Florida's capital with emotional testimony during a legislative hearing to discuss raising the age limit to buy long guns from 18 to 21. 
 
 The bill also would create a program that allows teachers who receive law-enforcement training and are deputized by the local sheriff's office to carry concealed weapons in the classroom, if also approved by the school district. The school's superintendent has spoken out firmly against that measure. ||||| Anxious family members watch a rescue vehicle pass by, Wednesday, Feb. 14, 2018, in Parkland, Fla. A shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School school sent students rushing into the streets as SWAT... (Associated Press) 
 
 PARKLAND, Fla. (AP) — The Latest on a shooting at a Florida high school (all times local): 
 
 5 p.m. 
 
 Broward County Sheriff Scott Israel says the shooting suspect is an 18-year-old former student at the South Florida school where the shooting erupted. 
 
 He says the teen was arrested without incident after he was located off the school grounds in a nearby community. He didn't give details of when the suspect had attended the school. But the sheriffs says the suspect wasn't currently enrolled. 
 
 "I don't know why he left," Israel said, briefing reporters Wednesday afternoon. 
 
 He also says the shooter was outside and inside the school at points during the attack. He didn't elaborate. 
 
 The sheriff says several SWAT teams have gone in during the afternoon and are clearing every building at the Parkland high school complex to ensure no other threat remains. 
 
 He also says the FBI has stepped in and will begin processing what he describes as "horrific scene." 
 
 Said the sheriff: "This is a terrible day ... This is catastrophic." 
 
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 4:40 p.m. 
 
 Parents described a chaotic and frightening situation as they rushed to find their children in the frantic minutes after reports of a shooting at a South Florida high school began to spread. 
 
 Caesar Figueroa says he was one of the first parents to arrive at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland. He says he saw police officers bringing out big weapons as they approached the school. 
 
 Figueroa's office is only five minutes from the school where he sends his 16-year-old daughter. 
 
 "My wife called me that there was an active shooter and the school was on lockdown. I got on the road and saw helicopters, police with machine guns. It was crazy and my daughter wasn't answering her phone." 
 
 According to Figueroa, she texted him that she was hidden inside a closet at school with friends: "She was in a classroom and she heard gunshots by the window. She and her friends ran into the closet." 
 
 Another parent, Beth Feingold, says her daughter sent a text at 2:32 p.m. saying "We're on code red. I'm fine." But she then sent another text soon afterward saying, "Mom, I'm so scared." The girl was later able to escape the school unharmed. 
 
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 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. 
 
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 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." 
 
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 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. 
 
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 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. 
 
 "This is a really good school, and now it's like a war zone," Obin said 
 
 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. 
 
 Outside, televised news footage showed two people on stretchers and another person being treated on the ground at an intersection near the scene of the school. Paramedics were treating those who appeared to be students with injuries, but it wasn't clear how they were hurt. A few students were loaded into ambulances. 
 
 One unidentified student told a reporter at the scene that at first students thought it was a fire drill because they had heard fire alarms going off. 
 
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 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. 
 
 Emergency medical personnel pulled stretchers from the backs of ambulances as police cars surrounded the parking lot. At least one person was seen being wheeled to the ambulance on a gurney. It wasn't immediately clear how many people were wounded. 
 
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 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.
– Members of the Broward County Police Benevolent Association handed carnations out to students as they entered Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School two weeks after a former student gunned down 17 people inside the freshman building. A long line of cars bringing people back to the school in Parkland, Fla., was guided by police as dozens of television trucks and vehicles camped out nearby. About 50 armed officers were on hand, and only students, parents, and staff were allowed through a security cordon. The main entrance is covered with a sign saying "Welcome Back Eagles." Students were told to leave their backpacks at home. Principal Ty Thomas said in a tweet Tuesday that "our focus is on emotional readiness and comfort not curriculum: so there is no need for backpacks. Come ready to start the healing process and #RECLAIMTHENEST." For Madison Geller, Wednesday offered an opportunity to get back into a routine, in spite of her fears, reports the AP. "When I walk in there, I'm going to replay the whole thing in my head. But we have to come here and try to learn," the high school junior said. "This week we will try to be comfortable and get back into the same routine." Angelyse Perez, a senior, said returning offers a chance for everyone to "get through this and be together. But I'm graduating," she said. "I just want to get out of here."