Ansonia Police have arrested a man who they said admitted to setting fire to his car after getting into an argument with his girlfriend.

Ansonia Police said they received a complaint of a car fire on Crescent Street just after midnight Friday and arrived to find a 1999 Honda Accord on fire around 10 feet away from a house.

The Ansonia Fire Department was able to put out the fire and flames didn’t reach the home.

Police identified 32-year-old Orlando Velez as a suspect. They said he had an argument with his girlfriend and she asked him to leave. He then used his own clothes, which his girlfriend had packed in bags, to start the fire.

Ansonia police said with help from Officer Degnan and his K-9 partner Disel, of the Milford Police Department, found Velez hiding in a backyard on Howard Avenue and took him into custody.

Velez confessed to starting the fire after arguing with his girlfriend, police said.

He was charged with second-degree arson and first-degree reckless endangerment.

Velez was held on a $100,000 bond and moved to Derby Superior Court for arraignment.

Police arrested a student who pulled a BB gun out of a backpack in front of East Hartford Middle School in East Hartford before the start of the school day Friday morning. 

Police said a parent saw the student take the BB gun out of a backpack and called East Hartford Police, who contacted the school resource officer. 

The student never made any threats or pointed it at anyone, according to police.

The superintendent of Regional School District 4 will be holding a news conference Friday afternoon to address safety concerns Valley Regional High School students brought up after a peer posted video on social media.

A statement from the school district says some students expressed concern for their safety earlier this week and school administrators promptly investigated, then took immediate action.

Dr. Ruth Levy, the superintendent of Regional School District 4, and a representative from Connecticut State Police Troop F will hold a news conference at 3:30 p.m. and said it’s in response to concerns Valley Regional High School students raised.

A statement from the school district says Levy wants to directly address any concerns, explain protocols and speak about the impact that social media is having on the school community.

A representative from Connecticut State Police Troop F will be addressing what officials found during the investigation.

The news conference will be at the Regional School District #4 Central Office in Deep River at 3:30 p.m.

Can't get enough of Thin Mints? Well, you're in luck - Dunkin' Donuts unveiled three new Girl Scout Cookie flavored coffees on Friday.

The new flavors - Thin Mints, Coconut Caramel and Peanut Butter Cookie - will be available from Monday, Feb. 26 through May at participating Dunkin' Donuts restaurants.

All three flavors will be available in hot or iced, as well as in lattes, macchiatos, frozen coffee and frozen chocolate.

The new flavors were unveiled Friday on Facebook Live from Savannah, Georgia, birthplace of the Girls Scouts of USA.

The new flavors are being served under a licensing agreement with the Girl Scouts, and some Dunkin' stores are also inviting local Girl Scout troops to sell cookies at their restaurants on weekends in February and March.

Tens of thousands of dollars worth of jewels, cash, electronics and religious items were stolen from a valeted car in New Haven, police said. 

A 38-year-old Pennsylvania man said he left his Cadillac with the Towne Park Valet Service at 904 Howard Avenue on Tuesday and when he retrieved it the next day, $73,000 worth of his personal items had been stolen. 

The victim reported several stolen items:

• House keys
• Checks from Summerset Bank with the account name Flight 93 Memorial Church Complex Foundation Inc.
• A black HP computer valued at approximately $1,000
• A white iPad Pro valued at $800
• A Pectoral Cross made out of 21 karat gold valued at approximately $14,000
• A 21 karat gold Golbean valued at $700
• A gold Crozier staff valued at $7,000
• A 21 karat gold Bishop’s ring with an amethyst stone valued at $12,000
• A black PlayStation 4 with six unknown games valued at $350
• A chalice and paten set valued at $15,000
• An 18 karat gold chain and cross valued at approximately $500
• A Bishop`s Vestment valued at $6,500
• A Bishop`s Crown valued at $4,500
• A blessing cross valued at $300
• A black wheeled Samsonite suitcase containing church documents valued at $350
• A black Nintendo Switch with the game "Sweepy" valued at $360
• $9,000 in cash
• A First National Bank credit card
• A Summerset Trust credit card
• A Visa Platinum credit card

A caller from Massachusetts told authorities months before the Parkland, Florida school shooting that suspect Nikolas Cruz was a "school shooter in the making."

According to a document released by the Broward County Sheriff's Office, a caller from Massachusetts reached out to them in November of 2017.

"Caller advised subject Nikolas Cruz is collecting guns and knives. Cruz wants to join the Army. Concerned he will kill himself one day and believes he could be a school shooter in the making," the document reads. 

The deputy who responded contacted the caller via telephone.

"No report was initiated," the document reads.

In an interview after the shooting, the deputy said he referred the caller to the Palm Beach Sheriff's Office as the caller said he believed the Cruz was living in Lake Worth.

The document makes no reference to how the caller knew Cruz. The call and response remain under an internal affairs review.

Brookline Deputy Superintendent Michael Gropman said it is not surprising that a tip about Cruz came from out of state. He said in today's digital and social media age, it is common.

"All those warning signs were there," he said in reference to Cruz.

Gropman conceded that it can be difficult for departments to keep up with the "massive" amount of tips received, but information suggesting an imminent threat should be taken seriously.

While the Cruz case may make it seem like law enforcement failed to act on numerous tips, Gropman said sometimes the issue is that agencies aren't sharing critical information with each other.

He said privacy laws make it difficult for law enforcement to know about school or medical issues.

"Until the social service agencies, law-enforcement, education, mental health, and hospitals can all communicate readily about possible, perceived threats, we're not going to be able to significantly affect this," said Gropman.

Cruz, 19, a former student, is accused of fatally shooting 17 people with an assault-style rifle on Feb. 14 at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. Authorities said he had displayed behavioral troubles for years.

The tip from Massachusetts was one of about two dozen calls received by local and federal law enforcement about Cruz's behavior over the two years leading up to last week's school shooting. Many of the incidents involved the threat of violence.

Two years ago, a deputy responded to a suspicious incident call in which someone reported that Cruz made a post on Instagram indicating he "planned to shoot up the school." However, the police document suggests the specific target was "unknown."

The deputy made contact with the caller who wished to remain anonymous. The deputy determined that Cruz had knives and a BB gun.

"Information forwarded to Stoneman Douglas School Resource Officer," the document's response description concludes.

The woman who rammed a security barrier at the White House with her van was arrested for trying to climb the White House fence twice in 2017.

U.S. Secret Service officers took 35-year-old Jessica Ford of La Vergne, Tennessee, into custody about 3 p.m. after she struck the pop-up barrier near the White House, at 17th and E streets, the Secret Service said.

No shots were fired and no one in law enforcement was injured in the incident, the Secret Service said, but a witness said he heard what he thought sounded like gunshots.

"After she hit the barricade, she just kept pressing on the gas and trying to push through, I guess," Chris Bello said. "That's what it looked like. And then they ordered her to stop, and they fire because she wouldn't stop."

He said it sounded like two or three shots.

It appears officers may have used something to smash the van's windows, possibly to get Ford out of the vehicle.

"I heard like a firecracker," witness Kimberlie Flauto said. "It didn't sound like a crash or anything and then I turned around and saw all the smoke and as soon as I saw all the smoke. And all the police were starting to pile out the back of the White House and from across the street. And then everybody's just screaming, 'Go, go!' and that's when I told all the kids, Go.'"

A law enforcement official said the Secret Service knows Ford because she's been around the White House before. She's believed to have mental or emotional issues.

On May 17, 2017, Ford was caught scaling the White House fence. She was rearrested July 6 when she violated a stay-away order at the White House.

Ford was again charged with several criminal violations and taken to the Metropolitan Police Department.

The White House was locked down but concern about the incident was low, NBC News Justice Correspondent Pete Williams reported. Secret Service and George Washington University police officers blocked off the area.

Operations at the White House returned to normal before 6 p.m.

President Donald Trump had just met with Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull at the White House.

"Thank you to the great men and women of the United States @SecretService for a job well done!" the president tweeted.

The News4 I-Team has reported more than 20 White House security breaches in the past four years. Many of them involve people with mental or emotional issues, and many of them try to do it again.

President Trump was asked to address interim security clearance for White House staff members after Rob Porter and Jared Kushner security clearances were scrutinized during a joint press conference with Australian Prime Minister Malcom. Trump said that he will leave that decision up to chief of staff Gen. John Kelly.

After praising Australia's merit based immigration program, President Donald Trump was asked if he would also consider Australia's decision to ban the sale of assault weapons in the wake of the Parkland school shooting last week.

A Ridgefield teenager is the driving force behind a proposed nationwide walkout of high school students planned for April of this year.

Lane Murdock started organizing the event in the days following the shooting in Parkland, Florida.

Murdock said the first 48 hours were some of the busiest of her young life.

"I was hearing from people all over the country that they wanted to participate," Murdock said. 

The 15-year-old's response to the most recent mass shooting could be the start of a new activism among teenagers, as witnessed by students from Florida speaking out for stricter gun laws.

She said her generation has lived with gun violence and mass shootings in ways that no other has in history.

"In the short time I've been in high school, we've had The Pulse [Orlando], Las Vegas, and Florida shooting so of course kids are getting into action," Murdock told reporters and gun rights supporters during a press conference on Friday. "This surrounds us every day."

Joining Murdock and her peers are nearly all of Connecticut’s members of Congress and families affected by the massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary.

Mark Barden, the father of Daniel Barden who was killed by a lone gunman in Newtown more than five years ago, spoke up in support of the movement aimed at reducing gun violence not just in schools but in all public places where shootings have occurred.

Barden recently returned from a visit to the White House where he was invited, along with fellow Sandy Hook parent Nicole Hockley, to meet with President Donald Trump, for a listening session on gun violence.

"Let's give him credit because he asked for advice on what to do about this," Barden said of the president.

Barden said he advised, "I've been working this and I've come up with a really good model that works. Where arming teachers and students with the tools on how to recognize people and to spot them and to get them help before they pick up an AR-15 and wreak havoc at a school or at a concert or at a movie theater or at a shopping mall."

Trump told the Conservative Political Action Committee’s annual meeting that he is a still a staunch supporter of the NRA but said he wanted to strengthen the background check system. For the second time this week, he also proposed arming teachers, saying the shooting in Florida could have been stopped by a teacher.

"A teacher would've shot the hell out of him before he knew what happened," Trump said.

On background checks, the president would find common ground with about 97 percent of Americans, according to a recent Quinnipiac University poll. Sen. Chris Murphy told the group in Hartford on Friday,

"Apple pie doesn’t poll that well," Sen. Chris Murphy quipped in Hartford on Friday.

Murdock said she only expects the walkout movement to grow over the next two months and said she also expects her generation to take the lead when it comes to guns and other issues.

"Most of us can’t vote yet," she said. 

Berlin High School is mourning the death of its longtime wrestling coach James Day.

The 64-year-old died on Thursday.

According to the school principal, Day was hospitalized earlier in the week due to complication from flu and pneumonia but an exact cause of death remains unclear.

Day gave decades of service to the high school as a special educator, athletic director and wrestling coach. Berlin Schools Superintendent Brian Benigni said the coach lead his team to consecutive state titles for many years.

"You had a man that was committed to the community and the students," Benigi said.

On Friday, Day’s fellow coaches, along with wrestlers past and present, shared memories of a man they considered a mentor and a friend.

"He was the type of guy that would lean over on any given occasion and would just say something that would stick with you for a lifetime," Berlin soccer coach, Katie Amenta, said.

"He didn’t coach a team, he coached a family," varsity wrestler Matt Pampuro said.

Several members of that wrestling family are competing in a tournament at Hillhouse High School this weekend.

A 16-year-old Hartford boy might be paralyzed from the neck down after a 14-year-old West Hartford girl crashed a stolen car into the pillars on the campus of Trinity College in Hartford Tuesday morning, according to police.

The 14-year-old girl was driving a car that had been stolen from West Hartford and the 16-year-old boy and another 14-year-old girl were passengers in the car when the crash happened at Summit Street and New Britain Avenue just before 5 a.m. Tuesday, according to police.

When officers arrived, the 16-year-old boy was trapped in the back seat of the vehicle and needed to be extricated.

He was taken to Connecticut Children’s Medical Center and listed in critical/stable condition.

Police said he sustained significant neck injuries and is likely paralyzed from the neck down.

A 14-year-old girl from West Hartford was sitting outside the car when police arrived and an ambulance transported her to Connecticut Children’s Medical Center to be treated for minor injuries.

While she was at the hospital with her parents she admitted she was the driver but refused to answer any more of the detectives’ questions, police said.

Police issued a summons to the driver for operating without a license and reckless driving. She is due in juvenile court on March 2.

The other 14-year-old West Hartford girl who police said had been in the car at the time of the crash ran from the scene and friends eventually took her to Connecticut Children’s Medical Center. Police said those friends were in another stolen vehicle.

Middlesex Hospital is installing barriers Friday in front of the emergency department entrance in Middletown and at its two other emergency department locations in Marlborough and Westbrook the day after a man rammed a car into the building in Middletown and set himself on fire. 

Steven Ellam, 27, of Middletown, is the man officials identified as the person who crashed into the entrance of the emergency department just before 10 a.m. Thursday and set himself on fire as he documented the ordeal on Facebook Live.

In that video, Ellam called himself Jesus Christ and referred to the Illuminati and President Trump. Facebook has taken the video down.

Middlesex Hospital officials said they are determining whether barriers are needed at other Middlesex facilities. 

The Middlesex Hospital emergency department in Middletown remains closed until further notice and the hospital has also canceled non-emergency surgeries and outpatient lab tests and radiology tests that were scheduled to take place at the hospital Friday. 

Following is the full statement from the hospital:

Yesterday’s incident challenged Middlesex Hospital and the Middletown community in many ways. The Hospital is very thankful for the assistance provided by the many police and firefighters who quickly responded and the Middletown mayor’s office, and it is working cooperatively with law enforcement and many other agencies today and in the days ahead. 

The Hospital would also like to thank the state Department of Public Health, local community agencies and other hospitals in Connecticut for their help and support. During this difficult time, it is heartwarming to see everyone come together in this way. 

Middlesex Hospital has emergency plans in place to use as needed, and it conducts emergency drills on a regular basis as a way to prepare for a variety situations. Yesterday, the unthinkable happened, and Hospital staff responded quickly and appropriately. It is because of their efforts and the help of first responders that all patients and employees are safe. 

The Hospital recognizes that it is embarking on a large cleanup effort, and that process has already begun. It is working around the clock to resume normal operations and is taking additional steps to reinforce the safety of all its facilities. 

The Hospital’s first priority is always the safety of its patients and staff. Barriers are being installed today in front of the Hospital’s Emergency Department entrance in Middletown and at its two other Emergency Department locations in Marlborough and Westbrook. The Hospital continues to assess whether barriers are needed at other Middlesex facilities. 

The Middlesex Hospital Emergency Department in Middletown is currently closed until further notice. While the Hospital will do its best to help anyone who walks into the Hospital with a medical problem, patients should visit the Hospital’s Emergency Department locations in Marlborough and Westbrook if possible. The Hospital has also canceled non-emergency surgeries and outpatient lab tests and radiology tests that were scheduled to take place at the Hospital today. 

The Hospital is now allowing visitors. However, it is still limiting who can visit patients staying at the Hospital due to the prevalence of the flu. These restrictions were put in place earlier this month for the safety of both patients and staff. 

Anyone who has the flu, or has flu-like symptoms, should not visit a patient in the Hospital. Only immediate family members or a designated support person may visit patients. Patients may only have a maximum of two visitors at a time, and no one under the age of 18 may visit patients unless special permission is granted. 

Again, Middlesex Hospital is extremely grateful for all of the help and support it has received this week, and it will continue to provide updates regarding its building and the services it offers. 

Three local firefighters are talking about battling PTSD, depression and anxiety because they hope no other first responder has to suffer.

For Atwood Hose Deputy Chief Andrew Duval, even odors bring back the trauma he’s experienced on the job.

"The smell of antifreeze triggers it from a previous car accident I've been to," Duval said. 

Colchester Firefighter Dave Barnes said just being at home reminds him of a severe burn victim he met during a call down the block.

"I remember hearing the screaming," Barnes said.

After Stamford Fire Captain Jaques Roy helped recover two bodies in an infamous Christmas day fire five years ago, all it takes to remind him of that horrific day is a certain whitish-pink color, the color he saw one of the fire's young victims wearing.

"I would drive my kids to school and I would drop them off and every little girl with a backpack would have that color on it," said Roy.

The triggers may be different but what most firefighters have in common is the long journey they had to realize they had a problem and then admitting they needed to find the help.

NBC Connecticut teamed up with other NBC stations and The International Association of Fire Fighters (IAFF) to examine the issue of firefighter mental health nationwide. NBC Owned Stations sent surveys to first responders and got almost 7000 responses, including 124 from those working in Connecticut.

Three out of four surveyed said they have lingering or unresolved emotional issues due to stressful experiences as a firefighter.

That includes Manchester Fire Chief David Billings.

After a 2010 workplace shooting that left eight dead, he sought help but found that help to be lacking.

"I feel like I feel like we're doing a good job based on what we have at the moment. But I do absolutely feel like there is more to do," Billings said.

NBC Owned Station's survey results show that appears to be true.

• Four out of five Connecticut firefighters said employee assistance programs don't work in addressing their mental health issues
• Just 40 percent of Connecticut firefighters said they were helped from critical incident stress debriefings, where a team meets with firefighters and reviews a stressful event step by step

According to our survey, 70 percent of Connecticut firefighters found peer-to-peer counseling helpful.

"You trust your peer, you know they understand," Roy said.

Firefighters surveyed said there needs to be more discussions or training about mental health. Some said their departments address it once a year at most.

Billings has researched something called "resiliency training" which teachers firefighters to develop emotional strength before a stressful incident, so the effects don't linger as long afterward.

But the hardest part in getting firefighters the assistance they need may be in ending the stigma of coming forward and admitting you need help.

In Connecticut, more than 80 percent of those surveyed said there's a stigma about mental health issues and that makes them reluctant to seek out the assistance they need;

The firefighters NBC Connecticut spoke with believing over time, things will change, because Duval said, it has to.

"We need to start taking care of ourselves and the service because if we kept going we were going twenty years ago, thirty years from now there'd be no fire service," Duval said. 

Dozens of people In New Haven couldn't get into their home on Friday night after they were forced to evacuate their apartments when the building was condemned on Thursday.

The apartment complex on Norton Street had police tape blocking the entrance and danger signs posted on the doors with the people who live inside wanting to know when they’re going to have more than a temporary roof over their heads.

"Terrible. I came home after 6 o’clock in the evening. I had 15 minutes to evacuate her apartment," one resident, Monique Paige, said.

The Paige family called Thursday complete chaos and said most of their belongings are still inside of the condemned Norton Towers Apartments. Currently, they’re staying with their two young children in a motel and are unsure of where they’ll be staying after the weekend.

"My rent is being paid, I do everything that they need done. Why I can’t live comfortable with my two kids?” wife Monique Paige, who shares the same name as her partner, said. 

New Haven Director of Emergency Operations Rick Fontana said the 40-unit building housed 77 residents including pets. Thirty-seven of the units were occupied in the approximately 100-year-old building, he added.

Fontana described the evacuation as a smooth process, happening over the course of a few hours and said most of the tenants went to three local motels.

"We didn’t bang on the doors [and] move them out. We said this is what’s going on, this is what you need to do. We gave them time. We had a bus out here," Fontana said.

A collaboration between the New Haven’s Livable City Initiative, building official, fire marshal, structural engineer and more determined the building was unsafe.

A letter from Cuoco Structural Engineers, LLC to New Haven Building Inspector Jim Turcio on Thursday said they found deteriorating framing on the first floor, unsupported floor joists, even failing to sheathe. It’s supplemented with pictures taken inside.

"Basically the plumbing system is holding up the building. We have rotted steel beams," Turcio said.

Property Manager Mendy Katz said there were structural engineers on site Thursday to further assess. He’s trying to rehouse tenants as soon as possible because the motels are only paid for until Monday.

Katz lined up at least five apartments for tenants to move into Monday. He and his co-workers plan to call different property managers over the weekend. He is asking tenants to work with him to find another place to live.

The owner of the property, Ernest Schemitsch, based in New York, said Katz will do whatever needs to be done to fix in the building.

The responsibility to care for tenants falls on the owner of the building, Fontana said, who added he and his staff will advocate on behalf of the tenants to make sure they’re housed.

The Olympics are an opportunity for a host country to showcase its athletes, but also its culture. In 2018, all eyes are on South Korea and its rich history. NBC takes you beyond the displays at the opening and closing ceremonies, and into Seoul, Gangneung province and the Demilitarized Zone.

___

THE DEMILITARIZED ZONE
Although Korea’s civil war formally ended 65 years ago in an armistice, the tensions remain, taking physical shape with a border at the 38th parallel called the Demilitarized Zone. The area is considered an active war zone, but remains a popular destination for tourists. Experience some of the key sites within the Demilitarized Zone in 360.

GYEONGBOKGUNG PALACE
The Joseon dynasty was the height of Korea’s empire and its legacy is preserved through a variety of heritage sites across the country. The Gyeongbokgung Palace was the seat of royal power and today is the home of the National Palace Museum of Korea. Take in the splendor of Gyeongbokgung Palace, the largest palace in Seoul.

JUMUNJIN PORT
The host city of Pyeongchang has brought thousands of foreigners into South Korea’s eastern provinces. South Korea hopes the Olympics will be an introduction to the country -- beyond its two main metropolitan areas -- which is dominated by rural life. Experience the bustle of Jumunjin port, just outside the second host city of Gangneung.

HANOK VILLAGE
While South Korea is one of the most technologically savvy countries in the world, medieval dynasties are still reflected in the urban landscape and have ingrained a deep emphasis on tradition in Korean culture. Experience the serenity of a traditional Hanok village.

BULLET TRAIN FROM SEOUL TO GANGNEUNG
Get a 360-degree view of what it is like riding from Seoul to Gangneung, home of the Winter Olympic Park, on a bullet train.

WOLJEONGSA
You will find Woljeongsa in the forest east of Odaesan Mountain in South Korea. The temple dates back to around 600.

SEONGYOJANG HOUSE
Seongyojang House in Gangneung, South Korea, is one of the most preserved original dwellings in all of the country.

Some of these 360 videos were provided by: Robert Hernandez, Lisa Rau and Billy Bjork.

Just over a week after one of the worst days in their professional lives, first responders from Coral Springs met with the media on Friday to recount the mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School that left 17 people dead.

Officers from the neighboring city to the Parkland campus were among the first to arrive on Feb. 14, a scene that hit close to home for some of the first responders who have ties to the school.

Sgt. Jeff Heinrich had to fight back tears when describing the reaction he had dealing with his job and the knowledge that both his wife, a teacher at Douglas, and son were in the school.

“By the grace of God, my wife and my son who are at opposite ends of the school, [..] they both heard the fire alarm and decided to evacuate," Heinrich said.

Heinrich said when he heard the first gunshots being fired, the sounds didn't immediately register.

"At first I honestly thought they were fireworks," he said. "I thought the kids were screwing around. I thought maybe someone let off some fireworks in the school, set off the fire alarm, that's what I was thinking."

But all of a sudden, the situation changed, Heinrich said.

"Kids started to run, kids started to scream, at that time, I heard a round of probably another five or six shots," he said.

Heinrich said he immediately started sprinting into the parking lot where all the kids were gathered. He ran into a student with a massive gunshot wound on his ankle, named Kyle, and used a compression bandage to treat the injury. By that time, the fire department was on the scene, and Kyle was taken by paramedics for further treatment.

When Heinrich was bandaging Kyle, the student was able to give him a detailed description of what was happening inside and what the shooter was wearing. Heinrich immediately relayed that information to dispatch officers. 

"He was spot on," Heinrich said.

In the flurry of commotion, Heinrich was able to put on a SWAT vest and respond to the location of the incident: The freshman building. Officers were inside the building at that point, clearing it out and running the perimeter. 

Through choked tears, Heinrich recalled clearing the building and surrounding areas with other officers -- in an effort to protect his family.

"They're my family. Not only my family, my personal family, but the Douglas people," he said. "Those are kids that you know, teachers and staff that I've known for years."

"My wife is the assistant athletic director who works hand-in-hand with Chris Hixon who lost his life." 

Chris Crawford, a patrol officer and former Marine, also recounted the harrowing moments of the shooting when he was called onto the scene.

“It’s awful. It’s as bad as you can imagine times 10,” he said.

Crawford said he arrived at the school, grabbed his rifle, and started running toward the freshman building. After being instructed to clear the parking lot and search for injured victims, Crawford went to the front of the freshman building where he was met with a sergeant carrying out an injured 14-year-old boy. Moments later, another student approached Crawford and said she had been shot also. 

Crawford detailed using combat gauze to treat the boy's wounds on his lower back, shoulder, thigh and arm, all of which were severe. He also used gauze to treat the girl's injuries.  

Crawford helped the hurt students until the fire department arrived. After that, he rushed to the freshman building, where he met with other Coral Springs officers. The officers split up and Crawford went to the 500 building to survey the area.

Once there, he went to classrooms and made sure everyone was safe. 

When asked whether the classrooms were relieved to see an officer in the building, Crawford said:

“The first two classes were [relieved], the third class...I knocked on the door and told them I’m Coral Springs Police. They said they couldn’t open the door. I had to negotiate with them. I even had to slide my ID under the door."

Crawford said the teacher and students had to confirm that he was who he claimed to be.

"They started asking me questions like what my ID number was.”

Crawford said the injured boy and girl are expected to be okay. 

“For me, I’m glad I could help just one kid. Or two kids. I wish I could have helped them all.”

“What bothers me is that I wish I had gotten there sooner,” Crawford said.

Coral Springs Fire Department Lt. Rohan Neita also detailed the fire department’s response to the shooting.

“My brain really couldn’t process what was really happening. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing,” Neita said.

Neita said it was a normal day at the fire station when the 2 p.m. call went out.

“I remember hearing one of my shift supervisors asking dispatch if it was correct what he heard, that there was an active shooter at the school,” he said. “That’s when the hair starts standing on the back of your neck.”

Neita said when the department arrived, kids were streaming out of the school, running toward a set up triage area. They started looking at students, finding who was injured the most, and transporting them to the hospital accordingly.

For Neita, the incident was difficult because of his connection to the area.

“I grew up here. I went to high school at Taravella. It’s been tough.”

Two people suffered minor injuries in a machete attach in Waterbury Friday night.

It happened at 436 Baldwin Street around 7:30 p.m. Police said the suspect knocked on the back door of an apartment, and when the victims answered the door, the suspect attacked.

The victims suffered cuts to their wrists and fingers and were taken to St. Mary’s Hospital for treatment.

Police did not immediately release a description of the suspect.

The incident remains under investigation.

Students in Newtown know all too well the pain caused by a school shooting, and that’s why Friday they held a candlelight vigil for the victims of the nation’s latest school shooting in Parkland, Florida.

In addition to remembering the 17 lives lost when a gunman entered Stoneman Douglas High School, students who organized the event say this shooting is a call to action to bring about and end to gun violence in American schools.

At the vigil the names of people killed in mass shootings since the Sandy Hook massacre were read as students, teachers and members of the Newtown community lit candles in their honor.

The event was organized by the Junior Newtown Action Alliance. Organizer Jackson Mittleman, a junior at Newtown High School, says he and many of his peers feel galvanized by the activism being shown by the students in Parkland.

“You’ve inspired so many people around this country to make this kind of change. We’re not going to stop. We understand what you’re doing,” he said about the group’s efforts to call for reform in gun laws and school safety.