TALLAHASSEE — A House committee has approved a bill that would allow trained officials to carry firearms in schools as a way to improve safety.

The bill (HB 753) approved Wednesday is sponsored by Greg Steube, a Republican from Sarasota. It gives schools the option to appoint former or current law enforcement officers and former or current military officers with state legislated training to carry firearms on campus.

They would be required to go through 40 hours of school-safety training and eight hours of active-shooter training each year. They also would need four hours of firearm qualification annually.

They'd be required to have a carry-and-conceal permit.

Local school boards or principals would make the appointments.

Representatives for the Florida School Board Association and Parent Teacher Association opposed the bill. 

PANAMA CITY — Attorneys representing the man charged with fatally shooting his ex-girlfriend in broad daylight in a busy shopping center parking lot will not be allowed to present evidence of his mental state at the time because it doesn’t rise to the legal definition of insanity, a judge ruled Wednesday.

Florida law is fairly clear that such evidence is not permitted, Judge Michael Overstreet said during a hearing on prosecutors’ request to prevent attorneys for Joseph Moody from showing a jury evidence he was incapable of forming premeditated intent when he allegedly gunned down Megan Pettis in March 2013. Prosecutors need to prove premeditation in order to prove the murder in the first degree with a firearm charge against him.

“In Florida it’s pretty much a bright line,” prosecutor Bob Sombathy said. “Either you’re legally insane, or you’re not.”

Defense attorneys Jean Marie Downing and Rusty Shepard hoped to show a jury Moody had a diminished mental capacity short of insanity as defined by the law. Downing summarized the evidence she would present if Overstreet permitted it.

Moody, she said, had a lengthy history of mental illness and had been on suicide watch while he was in inpatient treatment in a local mental health treatment facility shortly before he shot Pettis to death as she tried to drive away from him. Downing said two doctors who examined Moody would testify that while his issues didn’t rise to the level of insanity, they did not believe he was capable of forming premeditated intent to kill Pettis.

Moody had written a suicide note the night before Pettis was shot, and Downing said he planned on killing himself in Pettis’ presence because he was distraught after she broke off their relationship in January.

Sombathy countered with what he described as “overwhelming evidence of premeditation.” He read excerpts from Moody’s profanity-laden statements to Panama City Police after his arrest. He described himself as “crazy” and “jealous,” and admitted to shooting Pettis.

“I wanted to talk to her, and she was driving off,” Sombathy quoted Moody as saying, “and that’s when I went, ‘Well, (expletive) it.’ ”

Moody allegedly emptied a .45-caliber pistol and took off running to where his truck was parked before bystanders tackled and beat him. He told police he deserved the beating and also said, “I know what’s happening; I’m going to jail for a long time.”

If Sombathy can prove premeditation, Moody would spend the rest of his life behind bars; the charge carries a minimum mandatory life sentence. His trial is scheduled to begin April 21.

Shepard pointed out that he and Downing knew the law was clear, but it puts the defense at a disadvantage in this case because the state will be able to present evidence that they are prohibited from refuting. And because of the minimum mandatory sentence for the crime charged, the judge won’t be able to consider Moody’s mental state at sentencing as he would be able to in almost any other case.

“I just really want to voice my dismay at the situation we’re in,” he said.

Overstreet said they were ethically bound to argue not only what the law is but what they believe the law ought to be. 

FORT HOOD, Texas — An Iraq War veteran being treated for mental illness was the gunman who opened fire at Fort Hood, killing three people and wounding 16 others before committing suicide, in an attack on the same Texas military base where more than a dozen people were slain in 2009, authorities said.

Within hours of the Wednesday attack, investigators started looking into whether the man's combat experience had caused lingering psychological trauma. Fort Hood's senior officer, Lt. Gen. Mark Milley, said the gunman had sought help for depression, anxiety and other problems.

Among the possibilities investigators planned to explore was whether a fight or argument on the base triggered the attack.

"We have to find all those witnesses, the witnesses to every one of those shootings, and find out what his actions were, and what was said to the victims," said a federal law enforcement official who spoke on condition of anonymity, because he was not authorized to discuss the case by name.

The official said authorities would begin by speaking with the man's wife, and expected to search his home and any computers he owned.

The shooter was identified as Ivan Lopez by Texas Rep. Michael McCaul, chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee. But the congressman offered no other details, and the military declined to identify the gunman until his family members had been notified.

Lopez apparently walked into a building Wednesday afternoon and began firing a .45-caliber semi-automatic pistol. He then got into a vehicle and continued firing before entering another building, but he was eventually confronted by military police in a parking lot, according to Milley, senior officer on the base.

As he came within 20 feet of an officer, the gunman put his hands up but then reached under his jacket and pulled out his gun. The officer drew her own weapon, and the suspect put his gun to his head and pulled the trigger a final time, Milley said.

The gunman, who served in Iraq for four months in 2011, had been undergoing an assessment before the attack to determine if he had post-traumatic stress disorder, Milley said.

He arrived at Fort Hood in February from another base in Texas. He was taking medication, and there were reports that he had complained after returning from Iraq about suffering a traumatic brain injury, Milley said. The commander did not elaborate.

The gunman was never wounded in action, according to military records, and there was no indication the attack was related to terrorism, Milley said. His weapon had been recently purchased in the local area and was not registered to be on the base, Milley said.

Lopez was from the U.S. territory of Puerto Rico and joined the island's National Guard in 1999. He went on a peace and security mission to Egypt's Sinai Peninsula in the mid-2000s, and left the National Guard in 2010 to join the U.S. Army, said Lt. Col. Ruth Diaz, spokeswoman for the Puerto Rico National Guard.

Those injured were taken to the base hospital and other local hospitals. At least three of the nine patients at Scott & White Memorial Hospital in Temple were listed in critical condition.

"Our thoughts and prayers are with all families involved," Diaz said. "There is loss on both sides here."

Wednesday's attack immediately revived memories of the 2009 shooting rampage on Fort Hood, the deadliest attack on a domestic military installation in U.S. history. Thirteen people were killed and more than 30 were wounded.

Until an all-clear siren sounded hours after Wednesday's shooting began, relatives of soldiers waited anxiously for news about their loved ones.

"The last two hours have been the most nerve-wracking I've ever felt," said Tayra DeHart, 33, who had earlier heard from her husband that he was safe but was waiting to hear from him again.

Brooke Conover, whose husband was on base at the time of the shooting, said she found out about it while checking Facebook. She immediately called her husband, Staff Sgt. Sean Conover.

"I just want him to come home," she said.

President Barack Obama vowed a complete investigation. In a hastily arranged statement while in Chicago, Obama reflected on the sacrifices Fort Hood troops have made — including enduring multiple tours to Iraq and Afghanistan.

"They serve with valor. They serve with distinction, and when they're at their home base, they need to feel safe," Obama said Wednesday. "We don't yet know what happened tonight, but obviously that sense of safety has been broken once again."

Army psychiatrist Nidal Hasan was convicted last year for the November 2009 mass shooting at Fort Hood. According to trial testimony, he walked into a crowded building, shouted "Allahu Akbar!" — Arabic for "God is great!" — and opened fire. The rampage ended when Hasan was shot in the back by base police officers.

Hasan, now paralyzed from the waist down, is on death row at the military prison at Fort Leavenworth in Kansas. He has said he acted to protect Islamic insurgents abroad from American aggression.

After that shooting, the military tightened base security nationwide. That included issuing security personnel long-barreled weapons, adding an insider-attack scenario to their training, and strengthening ties to local law enforcement. The military also joined an FBI intelligence-sharing program aimed at identifying terror threats.

In September, a former Navy man opened fire at the Washington Navy Yard, leaving 13 people dead, including the gunman. After that shooting, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel ordered the Pentagon to review security at all U.S. defense installations worldwide and examine the granting of security clearances that allow access to them.

Asked Wednesday about security improvements in the wake of the shootings, Hagel said: "Obviously when we have these kinds of tragedies on our bases, something's not working." 

PANAMA CITY BEACH — Beach Police arrested a Georgia man for allegedly shooting himself and blaming a group of suspicious people.

Paul Anthony Odom, of Marietta, Ga., was arrested early Friday morning for filing a false report to law enforcement officers, according to a police news release.

Police responded to a shooting call at 2:37 a.m. at Edgewater Gulf Villas, where they discovered Odom, 18, with what appeared to be a gunshot wound to his foot. Odom told officers he was standing by an unknown group of people near Edgewater’s tennis courts when he heard a loud noise and felt a pain in his foot, according to police.

Odom was taken to hospital for treatment, but as the investigation progressed, police said they discovered Odom had been playing with the firearm inside the unit at Edgewater and accidentally shot himself.

After being treated for nonlife-threatening injuries and released from a local hospital, Odom was arrested and taken to the Bay County Jail.

PANAMA CITY — A man abandoned his car and walked home after accidentally driving into St. Andrew Bay on Thursday night, according to the Bay County Sheriff’s Office.

Deputies found the green Ford Taurus almost entirely submerged Friday morning around 7:30. Only the roof was visible. It was removed from the water.

Deputies tracked down the owner, who said he was in the car at the boat ramp on the southwest side of the Hathaway Bridge around 10:30 p.m. Thursday. He told deputies he thought the car was in reverse when he stepped on the gas to leave, but it wasn’t.

It was in drive, and the owner, who was not identified in a BCSO press release, bailed out of the car when he realized he would not be able to stop the car before it entered the water. The owner was not hurt, and he walked home.

 PANAMA CITY BEACH — A 13-year-old boy from Indiana is dead after falling from a condominium balcony Saturday morning.

The boy was checking out of the Palazzo Condominiums on the 17000 block of Front Beach Road with his mother and grandmother when he realized he’d left his phone in their room on the 15th floor, Panama City Beach Police Chief Drew Whitman said.

The boy, whose name will not be released until police can notify his father, went back up to the room with his grandmother just after 10 a.m. to look for the phone. After a few minutes the grandmother called for the boy from another room, and he didn’t respond, Whitman said.

He’d fallen 15 stories to the pool deck below.

“We heard a clanking, like glass or metal, and then we heard a thud,” said Rachel Salyer, who is vacationing from Kentucky with her husband and was on the beach below the condominium’s elevated pool deck.

Salyer looked up and saw the boy at the edge of the pool deck. Soon she heard sirens.

Police investigators later were on the balcony, the pool deck and the sand below.

Whitman said all early indicators point to the fall being accidental. The Medical Examiner’s Office will conduct an autopsy, Whitman said.

It was the second deadly balcony fall on Panama City Beach in as many months. On March 19, 62-year-old Thomas Sanders of Dallas fell 12 stories from a balcony at the Holiday Inn Resort.

Panama City Beach police have released the identity of the 13-year-old boy who died Saturday after falling from a 15^th-story balcony.

Zackary Dickman’s name was initially not released until police notified his father.

The teen, from of Plainfield, Ind., was checking out of the Palazzo Condominiums on the 17000 block of Front Beach Road with his mother and grandmother when he realized he’d left his phone in their room on the 15th floor, Police Chief Drew Whitman said. He went back up to the room with his grandmother just after 10 a.m. to look for the phone, but somehow fell 15 stories to the pool deck below.

Whitman said all early indicators point to the fall being accidental. The Medical Examiner’s Office is conducting an autopsy, Whitman said.

It was the second deadly balcony fall on Panama City Beach in as many months. On March 19, 62-year-old Thomas Sanders of Dallas fell 12 stories from a balcony at the Holiday Inn Resort.

PANAMA CITY — A table set for 10 holds the pictures and stories of people who will never sit there.

The empty table is for new additions to the Gulf Coast Children’s Advocacy Center’s ninth annual Missing Place at the Table memorial, as well as a place for domestic violence victims, a high chair for child victims and a special place for founder Charlotte Greathouse’s daughter, Kelli Bailey.

“Twelve years ago, my daughter’s life was taken in an act of random violence. We were invited to go to Tallahassee to remember her at a similar event,” Greathouse said.

Greathouse said the event inspired her to start Missing Place at the Table and that it brings her “peace” to work with the advocacy center.

PHOTO GALLERY

 “The families that have participated have all said that it helped them to have closure because this day is to remember the joys of our loved ones that we’ve lost,” Greathouse said. “To me, that’s where the healing comes from.”

The memorial will be Monday at 11 a.m. at the Panama City Mall to remember murder victims within the 14th Judicial Circuit, which includes Bay, Calhoun, Gulf, Holmes, Jackson and Washington counties.

Gulf Coast Children’s Advocacy Center Kid’s Court advocate Lizabeth Berry said the event is “an opportunity for families to celebrate their loved ones.”

Other tables held displays of pictures and notes for almost 100 loved ones lost to violent crimes. Some of the displays include descriptions of how the victim died and their murderer’s name; others hold only stories of happy memories of the victim.

“They’re not just a statistic,” Berry said. Looking at the displays, she added, “You know these people.”

Monday’s program will feature speakers from the Bay County Sheriff’s Office, the State Attorney’s Office and the Gulf Coast Children’s Advocacy Center. The names of victims at the table will be read and their families will be recognized. The memorial will remain on display in the mall until Sunday for National Crime Victims Rights Week.

-Who: Gulf Coast Children’s Advocacy Center

-What: Missing Place at the Table

-When: 11 a.m. Monday

-Where: Panama City Mall center court near World Market entrance

PANAMA CITY — A judge denied a murder suspect’s request for a new attorney as the trial to determine whether he will face the death penalty draws near.

Kim Jewell with the Public Defender’s Office will continue to represent Bryan Castleman, who is scheduled to go to trial beginning April 28 on two counts of first-degree murder for allegedly killing his wife and father-in-law in the Springfield home they all shared in November 2012.

In a motion filed Wednesday, Castleman wrote he’s concerned Jewell isn’t trying hard enough to get a not-guilty verdict and is too focused on keeping him off death row.

“After listening to enough ‘guilty until proven innocent’ and realizing that her idea of winning cases is life sentences instead of the Death Penalty, I have decided to speak up!” Castleman wrote.

Judge James Fensom denied the motion after a hearing last week. Jewell, who was successful in getting portions of Castleman’s statements to investigators suppressed because investigators denied him an attorney after he requested one, declined to comment.

Castleman showed his neighbor Ricardo Reynolds the bodies of Mary Ann Castleman and Leroy Minnich after they were killed, Reynolds told The News Herald on Nov. 26, 2012, the day Springfield Police found their bodies. Reynolds said they had been stabbed and beaten with a hammer.

After they were killed, Castleman and Reynolds bought video games and crack cocaine with money stolen from Mary Ann Castleman. They partied while the two bodies lay in the other room.

Police believe they were killed Nov. 23.

In a recent court filing, prosecutors summarized text messages between Castleman and his wife from the days before her death. Though they had reportedly been having trouble in their relationship, the last text exchange was each telling the other they loved them.

The filing also includes texts between Castleman and Reynolds from Nov. 23 and Nov. 24. At 10:39 p.m. on Nov. 23, Castleman told Reynolds he wanted to leave for Arkansas within 45 minutes and asked for Reynolds’ help. Eighteen minutes later he wrote, “call me now I’m gonna take out my wife and her dad tonight I need ur help call me,” then 16 minutes he wrote, “after I’m done I wanna get some hoes and party all night”.

Castleman has a pretrial hearing scheduled for April 14. The trial will be conducted in two phases. In the first, which is scheduled to begin with jury selection on April 28, jurors will determine whether or not Castleman is guilty. In the second phase they will decide whether or not to recommend that Fensom sentence him to death. 

PANAMA CITY BEACH -- A man who allegedly fought a deputy and fled was arrested along with his friend after a chase that ended when the BMW sedan they were in crashed into an unmarked Bay County Sheriff’s Office car, according to the Sheriff’s Office.

Samuel Paramore III was stopped for driving a scooter with no taillights around 8 p.m. Friday. The deputy who stopped him attempted to take him into custody for driving with a suspended license when Paramore pulled the deputy to the ground and began hitting and kicking him.

A BMW pulled up and several women got out and said Paramore was having a seizure, but when the deputy released him to see if it was true, Paramore, who had gone limp, fought again before running to the BMW and driving away.

Another deputy saw the car less than 10 minutes later on North Lagoon Drive. The driver saw the deputy and pulled into a business, where additional deputies boxed him in. The driver of the BMW, Nathanial Gregory Adams, crashed into one of the BCSO cars.

Adams, 22, of Jefferson, Mo., was arrested and charged with resisting an officer without violence and fleeing and eluding police. Paramore, 22, of Midway, would not get out of the car until deputies smashed a window to remove him. He is charged with fleeing and attempting to elude, battery on a law enforcement officer, knowingly driving with license suspended or revoked and resisting an officer with violence.

PANAMA CITY BEACH -- A sex offender who cut off an electronic monitoring bracelet was arrested after deputies found him hiding in a closet, according to the Bay County Sheriff’s Office.

Andrew Nazworth, 29, told deputies after his arrest that he cut the ankle monitor off and left it at the probation office so he wouldn’t be charged with taking it. He also wanted to hide from deputies, who found him in a closet at 2914 Wakulla Ave., which is his last known address.

He was charged with resisting arrest without violence, failure to register as a sex offender, and violation of probation. Deputies found a syringe in his pants pocket when they arrested him, so he also was charged with possession of drug paraphernalia.

Deputies also arrested 44-year-old Rachel Detamore, who was in the home, because she told deputies Nazworth had run out the back door when they arrived. Detamore is charged with resisting an officer without violence.

PANAMA CITY -- A 40-year-old Southport man could spend the rest of his life in prison after a jury convicted him Monday of drug trafficking and manufacturing meth, according to the State Attorney’s Office.

Thomas Michael Palmer called the Sheriff’s Office to his home Sept. 10, 2013, to complain he had been battered by a relative. Deputies noticed smoke and a chemical smell coming from the home as soon as the door opened, and during a consensual search they found chemicals used in the shake-and-bake manufacturing process, as well as a batch in the process of cooking.

Palmer, because of his prior drug convictions is classified as a habitual felony offender and could face life in prison. No sentencing date was set at the conclusion of his trial.

PANAMA CITY BEACH — Deputies completed an investigation into a report of gunshots fired from a Front Beach Road motel Saturday night without an arrest.

The Sheriff’s Office was called to the Coconut Grove Motor Inn around 11 p.m. Saturday. They found a man sitting on the balcony outside of room 214 who said he had just been jumped but he didn’t know who jumped him, according to a report.

The deputy noticed four spent bullet shells on the ground near room 214. No one was shot in the incident.

A woman said she’d been walking near the staircase and saw another man lying on the ground. She went to see if he was all right and she saw an arm extend out of room 214 and fire several shots. She could not see who was holding the gun, but she said the shooter wore a black long-sleeve T-shirt.

The woman pointed out the man she had seen on the ground, who was sitting on a chair at the end of the balcony pressing a rag to the side of his head. He said he had been attempting to help someone down the hallway when someone hit him.

Paramedics checked on the injured man, who declined to go to the hospital.

The man staying in room 214 said three other people were staying with him, but he hadn’t seen them in a while. The deputy searched the room and didn’t find a gun.

The deputy got a list of the people registered to the room from the manager, who wanted the man in room 214 evicted.

Unless further information about the incident is developed, the investigation is closed, said BCSO spokeswoman Ruth Corley.

CHIPLEY — A bicyclist was in critical condition after running a stop sign and being struck by a car in Washington County on Saturday, the Florida Highway Patrol said.

FHP identified the injured as Kasey Combs, 20, of Alford.

Walter Hayes, 79, Bonifay, was driving a Ford F-150 west on County 273 and was unable to stop when the bicycle went through a stop sign at the Kirkland Road intersection, FHP said.

The bicyclist was ejected off the bicycle and into the ditch on the north side of County 273. Combs was admitted to Bay Medical Center.

APALACHICOLA -- The Franklin County Sheriff’s Office announced this week that Ronald Joseph Page will not face charges after shooting Charles Fasbenner Jr. in the chest.

According to the release, Page heard the gate open at his home and investigated around 9:45 p.m., finding Fasbenner on his property.

Page retrieved a rifle and verbally confronted him, after which Fasbenner approached. Page warned the man, fired a warning shot into the ground with a .22 rifle and eventually shot Fasbenner in the chest when he continued to approach him.

FCSO and Franklin EMS pronounced Fasbenner dead at the scene. FCSO investigators determined that no charges would be filed based on the available information from the case.

PANAMA CITY — The watch commander working midnight shifts on Spring Break called Panama City Beach a war zone in a presentation Tuesday to the monthly CrimeStoppers membership meeting.

“There are certain areas that you just don’t want to be in at night, and I consider it a war zone … and it’s sad that I have to use that term,” Panama City Beach Police Lt. Jamey Wright said. “Other people might have their own terms.”

Wright said not only are crowds on the beach bigger this year, police also are seeing more spring breakers with guns. Police recovered several firearms, and Wright estimated roughly half were stolen.

“So they’re definitely armed to the teeth,” Wright said. “And on the flip side of that, a lot of them have their permits, too. They’re armed, and they have permits.”

Panama City Police alone took nearly 10,000 calls for service in March and the first few days of April. From the audience, Maj. Tommy Ford pointed out the Bay County Sheriff’s Office responded to about 6,000 calls that weren’t included in Wright’s presentation.

With such a heavy workload, police are unable to enforce every law violation and are choosing their battles. Alcohol offenses are down because police have focused on crowd control in order to prevent the violence that can erupt when groups of people are allowed to congregate on the streets, Wright said.

“Alcohol offenses are down, and sometimes we can’t make that arrest every time,” Wright said.

Wright used a heat map to illustrate where PCBPD efforts are focused. Not surprisingly, the most activity was in the so-called “Triangle,” an area of

“We don’t want them to turn a corner and not see an officer,” Wright said.

But police focus primarily on the roads. While the sand is not entirely unpoliced, the crowds that gather behind the “superclubs” are foreboding for officers who have to weigh the benefits of making an arrest against the risk of being outnumbered. For the safety of officers, the drug and alcohol offenses on the beach often are overlooked.

Wright alluded to a series of reports that aired recently on Fox News that described the depravity of Spring Break; the unabashed depictions of a generation of teens and young adults engaged in reckless alcohol consumption and public sex stunned even local viewers.

“Obviously you’ve heard the news of what’s going on beachside, the alcohol offenses and the sexual offenses and everything going on down there,” Wright said. “Are they happening? Obviously. Are we catching everything? No, but we’re doing what we can.”

Wright said the national exposure might actually be attracting people to Panama City Beach, but it’s attracting the “100-mile club: people within a few hours of Panama City Beach who come to party and prey on visitors for the night or the weekend before heading home.”

“You get national spotlight on the clubs like that, and it’s going to bring them in — and it does,” Wright said.

Wright also discussed alcohol-related health emergencies and traffic problems from scooters. 

DOVER, N.H. — Mike Witonis got an email from Apple thanking him for calling customer service about his laptop computer. Problem is, someone had stolen it from him a year earlier.

PANAMA CITY BEACH — Police arrested a local man and Washington woman they believe works as an escort on suspicion of robbing two people at knifepoint after she lured them to a motel room.

Jennifer Rochelle, 30, of Vancouver, Wash., and Dustin Wade Martin, 28, of Springfield, were arrested Tuesday. Martin was at the Summer Breeze Motel with property police said he stole from one the two victims. Rochelle was arrested on her way to the Greyhound station, and she had property that police said belonged to a victim as well.

According to police:

Rochelle lured two men into a room at the Chateau Motel on Front Beach Road early Monday morning. Not long after the two men arrived Martin came into the room.

Martin and Rochelle forced one of the men onto a bed, held a knife to his throat and took a laptop computer and other valuables, including a tattoo gun Rochelle had when she was arrested. After taking his property, they threw him out of the room and sent him off to find drugs that he could give them for the return of his tattoo gun.

They punched and kicked the other man’s head before trapping him in the bathroom for approximately 10 hours. They took his cellphone and some jewelry and told him they’d kill him if he came out.

Rochelle made incriminating statements after her arrest, police said.

Martin and Rochelle were booked into the Bay County Jail Tuesday on suspicion of two counts of armed robbery and a count of false imprisonment. On Wednesday, Judge Shane Vann set Rochelle’s bond at $125,000 total and Martin’s bond at $250,000 total. It was not clear if they had attorneys. 

WINTER PARK — A car smashed into an Orlando-area day care Wednesday, killing a child and injuring 14 others, at least 12 of them children, authorities said.

Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children wasn't releasing any more information on the age and sex of the child who died, said Katie Dagenais, a spokeswoman for the hospital where the most-seriously injured were being treated.

One person at the hospital was in critical condition and five others were in serious condition, Dagenais said.

In all, 13 people were hospitalized and two others were treated at the scene, said John Mulhall, a spokesman for the Orange County Fire Rescue.

Several of the injured at the KinderCare building in Winter Park were reported to be in "very, very serious condition," said Florida Highway Patrol spokeswoman Wanda Diaz

Diaz said the Toyota Solara convertible had gone out of control after it was struck by a Dodge Durango, jumped a curb and smashed into the day care, breaking through the wall and into the building. That driver was not hurt.

The Durango fled the scene but was located almost two hours later after it had been left at a home. Highway patrol said it is looking for 26-year-old Robert Corchado. Troopers said he was the driver of the Durango, but wouldn't say how they established that. Troopers said Corchado may be trying to leave the area.

"Please keep a lookout and let us know if you see anything," said Orange County Mayor Teresa Jacobs said.

Jacobs called the crash an "absolute tragedy and disaster."

Local television footage showed small children and infants in cribs taken outside on the day care's playground and several of the injured were carried out on stretchers.

The highway patrol reported that the injured were taken to five different hospitals.

Late Wednesday afternoon parents could be seen waiting to pick up their children, and then clutching them in their arms as they were escorted to their vehicles by authorities.

The day care's website says the center provides childcare and learning opportunities for children ages 6 weeks to 12 years old and has been in the community for over 25 years.

Below is an earler version of this story:

WINTER PARK, Fla. (AP) — A Florida hospital says a child has died from injuries suffered when a car slammed into an Orlando-area day care center.

A spokeswoman for Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children said she couldn’t release any more information about the victim, including the age and gender. One person at the hospital is in critical condition and five others in serious condition. One has been discharged.

Overall, 12 children and at least one adult were hurt.

Florida Highway Patrol spokeswoman Wanda Diaz says a car went out of control after it was struck by a Dodge Durango, jumped a curb and smashed into the daycare, breaking through the wall and into the building. That driver wasn’t hurt.

The Durango fled the scene but was located almost two hours later.

MURRYSVILLE, Pa. — Flailing away with two kitchen knives, a 16-year-old boy with a "blank expression" stabbed and slashed 21 students and a security guard in the crowded halls of his suburban Pittsburgh high school Wednesday before an assistant principal tackled him.

At least five students were critically wounded, including a boy whose liver was pierced by a knife thrust that narrowly missed his heart and aorta, doctors said. Others also suffered deep abdominal puncture wounds.

The rampage — which came after decades in which U.S. schools geared much of their emergency planning toward mass shootings, not stabbings — set off a screaming stampede, left blood on the floor and walls, and brought teachers rushing to help the victims.

Police shed little light on the motive.

The suspect, Alex Hribal, was taken into custody and treated for a minor hand wound, then was brought into court in shackles and a hospital gown and charged with four counts of attempted homicide and 21 counts of aggravated assault. He was jailed without bail, and authorities said he would be prosecuted as an adult.

His attorney did not immediately respond to a message for comment.

The attack unfolded in the morning just minutes before the start of classes at 1,200-student Franklin Regional High School, in an upper-middle-class area 15 miles east of Pittsburgh. It was over in about five minutes, during which the boy ran wildly down about 200 feet of hallway, slashing away with knives about 8 to 10 inches long, police said.

Nate Moore, 15, said he saw the boy tackle and stab a freshman. He said he going to try to break it up when the boy got up and slashed his face, opening a wound that required 11 stitches.

"It was really fast. It felt like he hit me with a wet rag because I felt the blood splash on my face. It spurted up on my forehead," he said.

The attacker "had the same expression on his face that he has every day, which was the freakiest part," Moore said. "He wasn't saying anything. He didn't have any anger on his face. It was just a blank expression."

Assistant Principal Sam King finally tackled the boy and disarmed him, and a Murrysville police officer who is regularly assigned to the school handcuffed him, police said.

King's son told The Associated Press that his father was treated at a hospital, though authorities have said he did not suffer any knife wounds.

"He says he's OK. He's a tough cookie and sometimes hides things, but I believe he's OK," Zack King said. He added: "I'm proud of him."

In addition to the 22 who were stabbed or slashed, two people suffered other injuries during the melee, authorities said. The security guard, who was wounded after intervening early in the melee, was treated and released.

"There are a number of heroes in this day. Many of them are students," Gov. Tom Corbett said in a visit to the stricken town. "Students who stayed with their friends and didn't leave their friends."

As for what set off the attack, Murrysville Police Chief Thomas Seefeld said investigators were looking into reports of a threatening phone call between the suspect and another student the night before. Seefeld didn't specify whether the suspect received or made the call.

The FBI joined the investigation and went to the boy's house, where authorities said they planned to confiscate and search his computer.

"They are a very, very nice family. A great family. We never saw anything out of the ordinary," said John Kukalis, a next-door neighbor for about 13 years.

His wife, Sonya Kukalis, said: "It should be an eye-opener for everybody. Everyone always thinks it's the other neighborhood, the other town. We need to be kinder and show compassion to more people. Something must have been going on for him to do this."

While several bloody stabbing rampages at schools in China have made headlines in the past few years, schools in the U.S. have concentrated their emergency preparations on shooting rampages.

Nevertheless, there have been at least two major stabbing attacks at U.S. schools over the past year, one at a community college in Texas last April that wounded at least 14 people, and another, also in Texas, that killed a 17-year-old student and injured three others at a high school in September.

On Wednesday, Mia Meixner, 16, said the rampage touched off a "stampede of kids" yelling, "Run! Get out of here! Someone has a knife!"

The boy had a "blank look," she said. "He was just kind of looking like he always does, not smiling, not scowling or frowning."

Meixner and Moore called the attacker a shy boy who largely kept to himself, but they said he was not an outcast and they had no reason to think he might be violent.

"He was never mean to anyone, and I never saw people be mean to him," Meixner said. "I never saw him with a particular group of friends."

Michael Float, 18, said he had just gotten to school when he saw "blood all over the floor" and smeared on the wall near the main entrance. Then he saw a wounded student.

"He had his shirt pulled up and he was screaming, 'Help! Help!'" Float said. "He had a stab wound right at the top right of his stomach, blood pouring down."

Float said he saw a teacher applying pressure to the wound of another student.

About five minutes elapsed between the time the campus police officer summoned help over the radio at 7:13 a.m. and the boy was disarmed, the police chief said.

Someone, possibly a student, pulled a fire alarm during the attack, Seefeld said. Although that created chaos, the police chief said, it emptied out the school more quickly, and "that was a good thing that that was done."

Also, a girl with "an amazing amount of composure" applied pressure to a schoolmate's wounds and probably kept the victim from bleeding to death, said Dr. Mark Rubino at Forbes Regional Medical Center.

Public safety and school officials said an emergency plan worked as well as could be expected. The district conducted an emergency exercise three months ago and a full-scale drill about a year ago.

"We haven't lost a life, and I think that's what we have to keep in mind," said county public safety spokesman Dan Stevens.

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Associated Press writers Mike Rubinkam in Allentown and Jesse Washington in Murrysville, Pa., and AP news researchers Judith Ausuebel and Barbara Sambriski contributed to this report.

Below is an earlier version of this story:

MURRYSVILLE, Pa. (AP) — A 16-year-old armed with two knives went on a stabbing and slashing spree at a high school near Pittsburgh on Wednesday, leaving 20 people injured, including a school police officer who eventually subdued him with the help of an assistant principal, authorities said.

The attack occurred in crowded hallways just minutes before the start of school. Of the 19 students injured, four suffered serious wounds, but all were expected to survive, hospital officials said. The injured officer was discharged.

Murrysville police Chief Thomas Seefeld said the bloody crime scene at Franklin Regional High School, some 15 miles east of Pittsburgh, was "vast" and may take a couple of days to process. School superintendent Gennaro Piraino said the school would be closed for the foreseeable future.

"Our focus is on our students, staff and the community," Piraino said. "I pray and we pray that this doesn't happen in any school."

Police didn't immediately name the suspect, who was taken into custody and driven to and from the police station in the back of a cruiser for treatment for a minor hand wound.

Investigators haven't determined a motive, but Seefeld said they're looking into reports of a threatening phone call between the suspect and another student the night before. Seefeld didn't specify whether the suspect reportedly received or made the call.

The chief arrived to find students running out of the school at about 7:15 a.m.

Michael Float, an 18-year-old senior, said he had just gotten to school when he saw "blood all over the floor" and smeared on the wall near the main entrance. Then he saw a wounded student.

"He had his shirt pulled up and he was screaming, 'Help! Help!'" Float said. "He had a stab wound right at the top right of his stomach, blood pouring down."

Float said he saw a teacher applying pressure to the wound of another student who had been stabbed.

Float said he knew who the suspect was but didn't know him personally. "I heard he's a very nice kid. I don't know what drove him to do it," Float said.

Two student victims were in critical condition, according to Dr. Mark Rubino of Forbes Regional Medical Center, the closest hospital to the school, where eight victims were taken.

The University of Pittsburgh Medical Center treated a dozen patients. Officials said a 17-year-old boy and 14-year-old boy were in critical condition, a 17-year-old boy and a 16-year-old boy were in serious condition, and a 17-year-old boy and two 17-year-old girls were in fair condition.

Five patients had been discharged, including three 15-year-old boys, a 16-year-old girl and an adult, who is believed to be the school officer who suffered only superficial wounds.

Seefeld wouldn't detail the carnage beyond saying, "The juvenile went down the hallway and was flashing two knives around and injured the people."

Westmoreland County public safety spokesman Dan Stevens said not every injured student was stabbed, and that some suffered scrapes and cuts in the mayhem.

The chief said someone, possibly a student, pulled a fire alarm after seeing some of the victims being stabbed. Although that created chaos, he said, it also resulted in students running out of the school to safety faster than they might have otherwise.

"The fire alarm being pulled probably assisted with the evacuation of the school and that was a good thing that that was done," Seefeld said.

Authorities were crediting an assistant principal with subduing the suspect. Officials didn't immediately release his name, but he was identified by students as Sam King.

King's son told The Associated Press that his father was treated at a hospital, though authorities have said he was not wounded by the knife and is doing fine.

"He says he's OK. He's a tough cookie and sometimes hides things, but I believe he's OK," Zack King said.

King said his father was to be interviewed by police but said little about his role in the attack.

"I'm really happy. I'm proud of him," King said, adding his thoughts are with "the victims and their families who have to deal with this, and I hope the best for all of them and my prayers are with them."

Rubino, the hospital physician, said a girl who wasn't wounded likely kept an injured schoolmate from bleeding to death.

"She displayed an amazing amount of composure to really help that friend who has having pretty significant bleeding at that point, and the pressure that she applied probably played a significant role in his ability to survive this," Rubino said.

Public safety and school officials said an emergency plan worked as well as could be expected in this district of 3,600 students who live in the bedroom communities of Murrysville, Export and Delmont. The elementary and middle schools are part of the same campus as the high school and were to remain open.

The district conducted an emergency exercise three months ago and a full-scale drill about a year ago. "The plan will be reviewed again after this situation to see if it can be improved upon," Stevens said.

"We haven't lost a life and I think that's what we have to keep in mind," he said.