National News at a Glance

Inquiry Found Florida Suspect Was No Danger

A Florida social services agency conducted an in-home investigation of Nikolas Cruz after he exhibited troubling behavior nearly a year and a half before he shot and killed 17 people at his former high school in Florida, a state report shows. The Florida Department of Children and Families had been alerted to posts on Snapchat of Cruz cutting both his arms and expressing interest in buying a gun, according to the report. After visiting and questioning Cruz at his home, the department determined he was at low risk of harming himself or others.

Prominent Republican Donor Issues Ultimatum on Assault Weapons

A prominent Republican political donor demanded Saturday that the party pass legislation to restrict access to guns and vowed not to contribute to any candidates or electioneering groups that did not support a ban on the sale of military-style firearms to civilians. Al Hoffman Jr., a Florida-based real estate developer who was a leading fundraiser for George W. Bush's campaigns, said he would seek to marshal support among other Republican political donors for a renewed assault weapons ban. Alluding to past mass killings, Hoffman argued in his email that future gun massacres were inevitable without government intervention.

Daunting Obstacles Loom in Florida for Proponents of Tighter Gun Laws

In the wake of Florida’s latest shooting massacre, and calls to tighten its relaxed gun laws, Gov. Rick Scott declared that now, everything was on the table. Yet Scott sidestepped whether he would explicitly support new gun restrictions and said he would never “trample” on anyone’s constitutional rights. In Florida — where a man used a legally purchased military-style rifle to kill 17 people at a school this past week — extraordinary political obstacles would have to be overcome before any real changes in gun laws could occur. Nearly 2 million residents have permits to carry concealed weapons, far more than any other state.

Man Crashes Truck Into New Jersey Planned Parenthood, Injuring 3, Police Say

A man crashed a stolen bakery truck into a Planned Parenthood clinic in East Orange, New Jersey, this past week, injuring a pregnant woman and two others, authorities said. The suspect, Marckles Alcius, 31, who had a last known address in Lowell, Massachusetts, was charged with attempting to cause widespread injury or damage, aggravated assault, theft and other counts. “Additional charges are possible, but we cannot comment on a motive,” Thomas S. Fennelly, chief assistant prosecutor for Essex County, said Saturday. A staff member and two patients, one of whom was pregnant, were hurt in the crash Wednesday.

Teacher Marries Her Girlfriend, and Then Catholic School Fires Her

Parents at a Catholic school in Miami said they were astounded that administrators had fired a first-grade teacher just days after she married her girlfriend, and now some of the teacher’s supporters on the faculty are scared that the school will retaliate against them as well. The teacher, Jocelyn Morffi, was by all accounts one of the most popular educators at Sts. Peter & Paul Catholic School in Miami, where she taught for nearly seven years. “I consider her the Mother Teresa of teachers,” Samantha Mills, a parent whose son was in Morffi’s class last year, said Monday.

Jury Awards $38 Million to Family of Maryland Woman Shot by Police

A Baltimore County, Maryland, jury Friday awarded more than $38 million to the family of a woman who was fatally shot by police in 2016 after a standoff that had been partly broadcast on Instagram. The woman, Korryn Gaines, was shot several times by a Baltimore County police officer as her 5-year-old son lingered nearby, in the line of fire. The son, Kodi Gaines, was struck twice by the officer’s gunfire — once in the face and once in the elbow. The trial lasted about three weeks, and the all-female jury deliberated for less than three hours of deliberation.