PARKLAND, Fla. – About 20 calls for service were made to the Parkland school shooting suspect's home in recent years, Broward County Sheriff Scott Israel said Friday at a news conference.
Israel said investigators have been following up on numerous leads after Wednesday's mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School that left 17 people dead.
He said authorities have so far contacted about 3,200 students and 200 staff members at the school.
The sheriff said there have been rumors, which he said were unfounded, that the suspect, Nikolas Cruz, 19, was wearing a gas mask during the shooting. Israel said, however, that a balaclava mask was recovered after the shooting.
Israel said authorities have also recovered electronic devices and cellphones linked to Cruz that will hopefully help them learn more about what led to the shooting.
"We want to find out why the killer did what he did, what we can learn from it and how we can keep our children safer," Israel said.
The sheriff said the school resource deputy, who was armed, was on campus at the time of the shooting, but was not inside the building where the shooting occurred and never encountered the gunman.
Israel said the high school property, which is among the largest in Broward County, is about 45 acres.
"At the end of day, make no mistake about it, America. The only one to blame for this killing is the killer himself," Israel said.
Israel said seven victims remained hospitalized Friday.
