TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- A series of missteps led to the massacre of 17 students and staff in the Parkland shooting, according to the state commission investigating the shooting.
“To me, the abundant finding is a total system failure, breakdown, whatever you want to call it,” said Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd, a member of the commission.
From the shooter making it onto the campus in the first place to staff failing to call a code red, the commission outlined everything that went wrong at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in February.
One of the biggest failures the commission found is that the school resource officer never went into the building to confront the shooter.
Read the Commission's report: Click or tap here
That commission will also put forward recommendations to improve school safety across Florida.
Perhaps the most controversial is that the commission voted to recommend arming teachers. It also discussed putting in place an active shooter policy, training for it, and having a system to communicate a 'code red.'
The commission even talked about punishing schools or districts that don't comply.
While those recommendations take time, the commission also highlighted steps schools can do right away, such as locking doors and gates during school, giving teachers the ability to quickly cover doors and windows, and identifying areas where students can hide from gunfire coming through windows and doors.
Andrew Pollack, whose daughter Meadow died in the February shooting, isn’t part of the commission, stepping down earlier this year. He said he doesn't have much hope for just recommendations.
“They’re not going to make changes because of recommendations,” he said. “The only way to make changes is through legislation. To force them to do it.”
The commission is meeting again Thursday. The final report is due to the governor by the first of the year.
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