The Florida Department of Law Enforcement will "immediately investigate" the police response to the Parkland school shooting, according to a statement from Fla. Gov. Rick Scott's communications office. 

The newly launched investigation comes amid troubling allegations that three deputies from the Broward Sheriff's Office -- along with the school's resource officer -- did not enter the freshman building at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, where a gunman opened fire inside. 

Broward Sheriff Scott Israel refuted most of those allegations, after an open letter addressed to Gov. Scott called for his removal from the department. In a statement, Israel said the letter was “riddled with factual errors, unsupported gossip, and falsehoods."

In the letter, Florida Rep. Bill Hager -- a Republican representing District 89 -- referenced the reports that three Broward Sheriff’s deputies, in addition to the school resource officer, didn’t enter Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School during the attack. Hager also criticized Israel for the “failure of his office to conclude this disturbed individual was a threat,” speaking about 19-year-old alleged shooter Nikolas Cruz.

His letter came as two law enforcement sources told NBC that three BSO deputies stayed outside of the freshman building – the site of the tragedy – when they could have gone inside, but the reason for the deputies being outside remained unclear.

In his statement, Israel refuted the claims about the BSO deputies, insisting that"only one law enforcement officer was ever on the campus – at any time – during the attack: Deputy Scot Peterson. Deputy Peterson immediately resigned Thursday after he was placed on unpaid suspension (pending likely termination) after our initial investigation showed he was present outside the 1200 Building but did not enter for at least four minutes of the attack.”

Peterson was the school’s resource officer.

Israel went on to explain that the Coral Springs Police Department received the initial 911 call about the active shooter and was dispatched to the scene knowing what the situation entailed. According to Israel, this happened before the call was transferred for dispatch to BSO. 

"CSPD officers made initial entry at the west doors of the 1200 Building, followed by more CSPD officers and BSO deputies," Israel wrote. "Unknown to the officers on the initial entry, video shows the killer had already fled the building over four minutes before they first entered the 1200 Building."

Israel completely denied Hager’s comment that Cruz had 39 visits by BSO deputies. Records show that the Broward Sheriff’s Office had 23 interactions with Cruz and/or his family from November 2008 to 2017, reports say. Israel acknowledged these interactions with Cruz and/or his family before the shooting, saying that 18 involved Cruz directly and the others involved his brother. However, he said the calls did not contain arrestable offenses.

“As BSO only had 23 calls for service (including the 18 involving the killer), Mr. Hager’s claim of '39 visits by' BSO deputies is simply fiction,” he said.

When Cruz got into an incident at school, he was referred to the Florida Department of Children and Families, Israel said, where he received mental health counseling and medication.

A 2016 report from the Florida Department of Children and Families said Cruz was seen on the social media app Snapchat cutting both of his arms. Cruz stated he had plans to buy a gun in the same report.

Israel also attacked Hager's claim that the BSO had been previously reviewed for its conduct, saying "it is patently obvious that Mr. Hager has zero comprehension of law enforcement. After any major critical incident, all law enforcement agencies prepare self-assessments. This is so an agency can learn from how the incident was handled and be even better the next time."

In an interview with CNN's Jake Tapper on Sunday, Israel said he refuses to resign, adding that he demonstrated "amazing leadership" to the agency during the shooting.

He proceeded to start talking about how leadership is measured, before being interrupted by Tapper.

“You measure somebody’s leadership by the way they protect the community," Tapper said. "In this case, you listed 23 incidents before the shooting involving the shooter, and still nothing was done to keep guns out of his hands to make sure the school was protected, to make sure you were keeping an eye on him. I don’t see how you can sit there an claim amazing leadership.”

Israel's letter was addressed to Gov. Rick Scott and posted on the BSO Twitter page.

The below tweet from BSO includes a link to Israel's letter:

A man who was making threatening remarks while brandishing a rifle outside a Stratford liquor store on Saturday was arrested. 

Police said they responded to Barnum Wine and Spirits on Barnum Avenue because a man was carrying a rifle in the parking lot and making threats.

Brian Torres, 45, was in an argument with another man when he went into his car and pulled out a rifle. Police said Torres pointed the gun at the man and threatened to "blow his head off."

Torres, a convicted felon, also made racial remarks, Straford police said. 

He was placed under arrested and charged with weapons in a motor vehicle, breach of peace, intimidation based on bias, criminal possession of firearm, threatening and reckless endangerment with a bond set at $500,000.

Stoneman Douglas student activist David Hogg is now calling on tourists from around the country to boycott the state of Florida this spring break, until politicians pass legislation on gun reform.

Hogg took to Twitter and wrote, “Let’s make a deal DO NOT come to Florida for spring break unless gun legislation is passed. These [politicians] won’t listen to us so maybe they’ll listen to the billion dollar tourism industry in FL. #neveragain”

The post was retweeted more than 37,000 times.

Hogg continued by saying spring breakers should opt to spend their time in Puerto Rico instead.

“it’s a beautiful place with amazing people. They could really use the economic support that the government has failed to provide,” he tweeted.

“How can you expect people from across the nation and the world to come to South Florida if we can’t guarantee their safety because of the inaction of these politicians?” said Hogg to NBC 6 on Saturday, “I understand there will be economic ramifications from this, but that is only if these politicians refuse to take quick and swift action to resolve these gun issues. “

According to Oxford Economics, tourists spend more than $100 billion each year in Florida. 

One lane is open on Interstate 91 South following a three-vehicle crash on Sunday.

There is congestion happening southbound on I-91 between exits 32 and 34.

Drivers should expect delays.

No other information was immediately available. 

The fire marshal is investigating after a fire broke out at a home in Wallingford on Sunday. 

Crews responded to the home on New Place Street after a fire broke out on the second floor. The first floor had some damage as well, the fire marshal told NBC Connecticut at the scene. 

The Red Cross said three adults and two children were displaced by the fire.

The fire is under investigation. 

Some of Connecticut's state agencies experienced a cyber attack late Friday afternoon, according to the Department of Administrative Services.

Starting late Friday evening, the State's security monitoring system alerted security teams that it had detected a suspicious event that matched the profile for a ransomware virus, said a spokesperson for the department. 

In a letter obtained by NBC Connecticut the ransonware virus was identified as the WannaCry virus. 

The total number of infected machines was 160 across 12 different agencies. The names of which agencies were impacted was not made immediately available. 

According to DAS Chief Information Officer Mark Raymond, the state mobilized its agency IT workforce and alerted agency commissioners to the issue. 

"State technology resources have made significant  progressand expect a full containment this evening," Raymond said in a statement. "We have no reports of files being encrypted or any data loss."

Raymond said although they are still going through final reports from agencies, they are not expecting any significant impact to state business on Monday morning.  

While Pyeongchang's Olympic venues have gone quiet, construction is well under way on facilities in the next Olympic cities: Tokyo and Beijing.

Students, parents and faculty gathered at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Sunday afternoon for the first time for an orientation to welcome students back to school since the tragedy that occurred on Valentine’s Day.

“We have a good future and the rest of the year ahead of us,” said Jenna Korsten, a student at Stoneman Douglas High.

While many are looking forward to going back to school, some are still trying to cope with the return. Some students said Sunday’s orientation gave them that bit of extra strength they needed to prepare for Wednesday morning.

“I’ve been very nervous about it, but also, I’m a strong girl and I think I can do it,” said Korsten.

“I’m going to try, I think I can,” said Sofia Mercury, a student. “After I saw [the orientation], I think I’m going to go back.”

Parents were also a bit hesitant to go back to Stoneman Douglas High, however, they say it was a much needed day of support.

“I felt a little bit scared when I first walked in, you kind of get this sense of chills,” said Clara Mercury, a parent.

“I had like a weird feeling going in there,” said another parent.

The only building on campus that was off limits was the freshman building, which was the building where the shooting occurred. Students said they were able to claim their backpacks and items left behind on February 14^th.

“They were inside boxes, like according to classes and periods and stuff like that, so everyone could find their stuff easily,” said a student.

Outside the school, memorials continue to grow, including a 3-mile long lei made by students and volunteers in Hawaii.

“The primary symbol is Aloha, which means love. And the other symbol is solidarity. As we weave, we weave our prayers into the lei, we weave our love into the lei,” said Ron Panzo of Lei of Aloha.

There’s a scramble to find new homes for dozens of families in New Haven after their apartment building was condemned.

Many residents of the Norton Towers on Norton Street been staying in motels since they were forced to leave the condemned building last week. Some are concerned about where they’ll go if their landlord soon stops paying the motel bills.

“It’s been really rough for me and my family. We just trying to take it one day at a time,” Monique Paige of New Haven, said.

For Paige and her two young kids, it’s been tough ever since their apartment building on Norton Street in New Haven was condemned on Thursday.

After being given hours to pack up their things, the family is now staying a motel, a good distance from their home.

“We’re going to be walking to school. We don’t have much transportation. So I’m going to get them up a little bit early to get them in school,” Paige said.

The Paiges were among 77 people suddenly forced out of Norton Towers after city officials deemed it unsafe.

Some are staying at motels, while others have found new apartments.

Paige lined up a new place but said all their furniture is inside the old apartment.

And right now no one is being allowed to enter the building or any of its 40 units.

“Everything is frustrating right now. It’s just a lot,” Paige said.

Adding to worries, Paige says their landlord might stop paying for the motel after Sunday night and the family doesn’t have the cash to cover it.

So in the morning before Paige and the kids head off to school and work, they’ll have to pack and check out, unsure where’ll they’ll spend Monday night.

“I have no idea. I have no idea,” Paige said.

On Monday morning city staff and a representative of the building are expected to meet to figure out issues including if the motel rooms will continue to be paid for and hopefully allowing tenants to return to pick up items.

NBC Connecticut did reach out to the property owner who directed us to his property manager, who has not yet returned our requests for comment.

Nearly a thousand Special Olympics athletes competed in this weekend’s Winter Games, some in the snow and others on the ice.

“A lot a lot of practice all the time, practice, practice all the time,” said speed skater Ryan Johnson of Chicopee, Mass.

The athletes who participated had the determination and drive to go for the gold.

“Try hard, real hard. Try the best,” said Johnson of the key to winning his competition.

For these athletes though, the weekend was about more than winning.

“My favorite part is just having fun,” said Billy Hemenway, Colchester. “I made a lot of friends between this sport and soccer.”

Hemenway said he’s been competing in speed skating for 20-years. He also participates in soccer during the Special Olympics Summer Games.

Jennifer Jacobs practiced twice a week for year to compete in the figure skating competition.

“I love the tricks they do, the artistry and stuff like that,” said Jacobs of Simsbury.

“This began as just two people enjoying skating and giving her some skills but now she has a program and it’s exciting to put that out there,” explained her coach Jessica Anastasio.

Because events like speed skating aren’t available in most programs, athletes come from all over New England to compete in Connecticut’s Winter Games.

“Last year we had New York, New Jersey, Rhode Island, and this year we’ve got New Hampshire, Massachusetts,” said Joe Murphy, who helped start the speed skating program.

Ryan Johnson came from Chicopee, Massachusetts to compete in speed skating with the help of his coach.

“It’s fun, it’s great, and it’s awesome,” Johnson exclaimed.

Coach Heather Quinn, like many volunteers, comes back year after year.

“It helps me remember what’s happy about life and what’s good,” said Quinn, of Springfield.

No one understands that better than Murphy, who has volunteered with the Winter Games for 30 years.

“You cannot always be a taker in life. You must give back in some capacity to understand what the reality of life is all about.”

A United Airlines flight from New Jersey to Tampa was unable to take off on time Sunday evening after a passenger escaped the plane by opening the emergency exit door and jumping off using the inflatable slide, a witness and the airline tell NBC 4 New York.

United Airlines Flight 1640 was parked at the gate at Newark Liberty International Airport when the passenger popped a chute and slid down, according to law enforcement sources. When officers got to the scene, the panicked passenger was yelling that he didn’t belong on the plane because it was the wrong flight, according to the airline and the Port Authority said.

“While Flight 1640 was parked at the gate at Newark Liberty International Airport, a passenger opened the emergency exit door and departed the aircraft using the slide,” United Airlines spokeswoman Maggie Schmerin said.

Despite the claim he was on the wrong flight, Port Authority said he was ticketed to be on the plane to Tampa. 

Officials identified the passenger as Troy Fattun, 25, and said he was placed under arrest. Charges are pending. It wasn't immediately clear if he had an attorney.

The flight was delayed for more than five hours, according to Flightaware.com. Witness John O’Malley, a passenger on the plane that was delayed, said all of the passengers safely disembarked from the plane after the unusual incident.

Schmerin added that the flight was rescheduled to depart from Newark around midnight. United Airlines confirmed the plane departed at 12:09 Monday morning. Flightaware.com reported the flight safely landed in Tampa just before 3 a.m. Monday.

Video shot by O’Malley and exclusively obtained by News 4 New York shows the passenger being led away off the tarmac by two police officers.

Meanwhile, on a separate United flight at Newark, Flight 1551 landed "safely" at Portland International Airport in Oregon after blowing a tire during takeoff in New Jersey, United said.

"Flight 1551 from Newark Liberty International Airport to Portland International Airport landed safely following a tire blowout during takeoff," a United spokesperson said. "Customers will deplane normally."

New London police have arrested a mother accused of prompting a Silver Alert after taking her 3-year-old daughter from the hospital, despite lacking parental custody.

Police said 29-year-old India Quinones faces charges of custodial interference and risk of injury.

According to police, Quinones took her daughter from Lawrence & Memorial Hospital on Feb. 14, despite a medical hold. Quinones does not have custody of the child. A Silver Alert was issued when the hospital reported the child missing.

Quinones and the child were found two days later after a concerned citizen called in with a tip about a possible location. Police found the child and Quinones at an address on Bristol Street. The state Department of Children and Families responded and took custody of the child, who was returned to the hospital for treatment.

Quinones was arrested by warrant on Feb. 23 and held on a $150,000 bond.

The UConn Women’s Basketball program isn’t the only team bringing nation titles to Connecticut. Sunday, the Trinity College Men’s Squash team set out for its 17th championship.

It’s a sport that isn’t as popular as others in the US. But players like James Evans from England and Rick Penders from the Netherlands have come from all over the world to be a part of the Bantams Dynasty.

"The mixture of all these cultures that have played squash in different parts of the world actually works out pretty well,” said Penders.

It’s a multi-cultural dynasty build by coach Paul Assaiante, but the Trinity team doesn’t stand out because of where they’re from – the 2017 championship team started nine players from nine different countries – they stand out for what they leave on the court.

"Yes, we are from nine different countries, but when you're out these fighting, it doesn't even cross your mind,” said Evans. “You think of them as your brother."

The Bantams defeated Harvard 6-3 to earn its second consecutive College Squash Association National Men's Team Championship. It’s the program’s 17th Potter Cup.

The snowboarder who snatched victory from the Alpine skiers. The “hangry” 17-year-old on a run to a near-perfect score. The intense skip of the Korea’s women’s curling team.

A new wave of breakout stars introduced themselves to the world at the 2018 Olympic Winter Games. Here’s a look at some of the athletes who shined.

Red Gerard, Snowboard
When it felt like Team USA might never reach the top of a podium in Pyeongchang, one of the youngest U.S. Olympians delivered. On the second day of the Games, 17-year-old Red Gerard took home gold in men’s snowboard slopestyle after pulling off a third, and final, run that put him in first place with a score of 87.16. He had to sit back and watch other contenders try to top him, but when it was all said and done Gerard came out on top. The teenager also competed in the snowboard big air event and finished fifth.

Chloe Kim, Snowboard
Teenage phenomenon Chloe Kim was “hangry,” as in: “Wish I finished my breakfast sandwich but my stubborn self decided not to and now I’m getting hangry.” That’s what the 17-year-old American making her Olympic debut tweeted midway through the women’s snowboarding halfpipe final. On her last run, her victory already assured, the youngest woman ever to medal in snowboarding scored a near-perfect 98.25.

Korean Skip Kim Eun-jung and the rest of the Garlic Girls
Ranked eighth in the world entering the Olympics, South Korea’s women’s curling team surprised everyone by winning the silver medal. The team, nicknamed the "Garlic Girls" for the garlic grown in their hometown of Uiseong, consists of skip Kim Eun-jung and teammates Kim Kyeong-ae, Kim Seon-yeong and Kim Yeong-mi. The four also have breakfast-themed monikers for each other: Pancake, Steak, Annie (a brand of yogurt) and Sunny (after sunny-side up eggs). Their underdog status and fan-friendly nicknames helped make these athletes undeniable homegrown stars.

Ester Ledecka, Snowboard and downhill skiing
Who thought Ester Ledecka could challenge defending champion Anna Veith and other top Alpine skiers in super-G Alpine skiing? The Czech skier was ranked 43rd in the World Cup super-G standings when she flew down the course 0.01 seconds faster than Veith on Feb. 16. Even Ledecka was shocked to see herself the winner with a time of 1 minute 21.11 seconds. But her success didn’t stop there. A week later she took a second gold in women’s snowboard parallel giant slalom. With that win, she became the first woman to win gold medals in two different sports at the same Winter Games.

Adam Rippon, Figure Skating
Figure skaters don’t qualify for their first Olympics at 28 years old, but that's what Adam Rippon did. After being named an alternate for the 2010 Vancouver Games and missing the cut for 2014 entirely, Rippon became the oldest first-time Olympian on the U.S. figure skating team since 1936 -- and he took advantage. In addition to earning a bronze medal in the figure skating team event, Rippon made history as one of two openly gay Olympians in the U.S. contingent, got into a war of words with Vice President Mike Pence, received praise on Twitter from Britney Spears and was briefly hired by NBC to work on the Games' telecasts before he quit to be with his teammates. That’s a busy two weeks.

Maddie Rooney, Women’s Hockey
The gold-medal game in women’s hockey pitted the United States against Canada for the third straight Olympics and the rivalry did not disappoint. For the second straight final, the game went to overtime and with just over a minute to go in the extra frame, Maddie Rooney made a game-saving stop. Canada’s Rebecca Johnston found herself looking at an open net with the puck on her stick, but the 20-year-old goalie slid across the crease and deflected the shot wide. Rooney stopped 29 of 31 shots in regulation and overtime. In the ensuing shootout, Jocelyne Lamoureux-Davidson scored the game-winning goal to give the U.S. its first women’s hockey gold since 1998.

Maia and Alex Shibutani
If your name can be shortened to a hashtag, you could have a viral moment. If your name can be shortened to a hashtag and you win an Olympic medal, that moment could last a little longer. Maia and Alex Shibutani, the #ShibSibs, finished ninth in ice dance at the 2014 Sochi Olympics, but broke out in Pyeongchang. The brother-sister team, who already had a loyal social media following thanks to their vlogs, took home bronze medals in the figure skating team event and ice dance.

John Shuster and the US Men’s Curling Team
One of the most unlikely gold medals of the Pyeongchang Olympics went to skip John Shuster and the U.S. men’s curling team. After falling to 2-4 in round robin play, Team USA won five straight games capped by a win in the final over Sweden. Shuster and his teammates Tyler George, Matt Hamilton and John Landsteiner call themselves the rejects, because they were left out when USA Curling started a high-performance institute following the 2014 Sochi Olympics. Now, the rejects can call themselves Olympic gold medalists.

Alina Zagitova, Figure Skating
Fifteen-year-old Alina Zagitova edged out the woman who inspired her to become a figure skater to win the first gold medal for the Olympic Athletes from Russia at the Pyeongchang Olympics. She and Evgenia Medvedeva had a rare tie in the free skate but Zagitova had beaten Medvedeva in the short program two days earlier when both women broke the previous world record. Medvedeva had a cracked bone in her right foot earlier this season, allowing Zagitova to become the second-youngest woman, behind American Tara Lipinski, to win the event.

Ninth, tenth and eleventh.

That's where the American women placed in the Olympic figure skating finals, the worst performance by Team USA's women at any Olympics. And it's been some time coming.

The United States has not had an individual women’s figure skater stand on an Olympic podium since Sasha Cohen won the silver medal in 2006. For a nation that dominated the sport, winning seven of the 12 Olympic medals awarded from 1992-2002, the results have been disappointing.

American figure skaters were often the breakout stars of the Games, from the Tonya Harding-Nancy Kerrigan saga through Sarah Hughes’ gold medal at the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics. Kristi Yamaguchi won gold in 1992, while Kerrigan persevered over an attack to take silver at the next Games. A 15-year-old Tara Lipinski stunned compatriot and gold medal favorite Michelle Kwan in 1998, and Hughes was the surprise winner four years later.

But after Cohen won silver in Turin, Americans were shut out at Vancouver, Sochi and now Pyeongchang. The best that American women did in that span was fourth place: Mirai Nagasu, then just 16, in 2010 and Gracie Gold in 2014.

In Pyeongchang, Bradie Tennell came in ninth, Nagasu 10th and Karen Chen 11th. The last time the top female U.S. skater finished below fourth place in the Olympics was 1964.

This year's Olympic gold medal went to 15-year-old Alina Zagitova, while 18-year-old Evgenia Medvedeva took silver. Will 20-year-old Tennell, 24-year-old Nagasu or 18-year-old Chen even qualify for the U.S. Olympic team in four years? Or will they be overtaken by younger skaters who are willing to take more risks?

“I can't speak for everybody, but for me, I'm sticking around and I'm going to work as hard as I possibly can to bring us up in the ranking," Tennell told The Associated Press. "I think anything is possible with hard work and determination.”

Three experts familiar with the international skating scene said the problems boil down to a lack of consistency from American skaters, less organization from the American figure skating system and a failure to adapt to a new ruling system. U.S. Figure Skating didn't return requests for comment.

SCORING SYSTEM
In 2002, the year of America’s last women’s gold medal, a judging scandal in the pairs’ competition shook up figure skating. By the time the 2006 Olympics rolled around, the International Judging System was in place.

A skater’s score in the IJS is based on the total of the technical score, in which each element of a program is assigned a base point total, and five additional program components: skating skills, transitions, performance, composition and interpretation of the music. One of the judges in the women’s competition in Salt Lake City said he was happy to see the new system implemented because the pressure on judges was so great in the 6.0 system that figure skating formerly used.

“When I judged the 2002 Olympics, I threw up before I went out to judge,” Joe Inman said. “Because I was so nervous about finding the right mark to get the right placement.”

The IJS incentivizes skaters to rack up points on their technical scores, especially in the second half of a skate, when jumps receive a 10 percent bonus. That's why, in men’s figure skating at the Pyeongchang Olympics, competitors loaded their programs with quad jumps, and why Medvedeva and Zagitova, who put most or all of their jumps in the second half, were so far ahead of the field.

It's a scenario that can force a veteran skater like the 24-year-old Nagasu into performing a routine she isn't 100 percent comfortable with. 

“I think about last year when I wasn't going for triple axel and how much easier the program was, but you still have to rack up the points somehow. You have to play the game," Nagasu told The Associated Press. "This isn't what I wanted, but at the same time, you can't always have what you want.”

The Russian women figure skaters "have been taking advantage of the system, and the American female skaters have been having more problems adjusting” to high demands, leading to injuries and inconsistency, former French figure skater Line Haddad said. “They have to deliver very difficult jumps at the end of the program to get more points. So they are searching for point and points and points.”

But implementing the IJS led to trouble within U.S. competitions, too, according to former Olympic coach Audrey Weisiger.

She said that, for years, the U.S. didn't do anything at the juvenile and intermediate levels of skating to counteract how the system dis-incentivizes difficult jumps by penalizing falls. It made the younger skaters cautious, since one mistake on a jump would mean they’d lose to a less gutsy skater who focused on artistry.

When Weisiger would go to nationals, she’d think, “Oh my God, what are we doing, we’re screwing up the future. And sure enough, the future arrived.”

The quad-jumping teenage phenom Nathan Chen is the kind of skater Weisiger would like to see more of. He has a strong artistic background thanks to dance and piano lessons and his six attempted quad jumps in the Pyeongchang free skate, five of which he landed, are evidence that he’s not afraid to take risks on big jumps.

Canada is a good model for what the U.S. can be, said Weisiger, who coached American Olympian Michael Weiss and now holds figure skating seminars around the world. Their scoring system has long given bonuses for young skaters attempting difficult tricks that the U.S. just adopted about two years ago.

While two years might not have been enough time for American skaters to adjust, Nagasu's coach, Tom Zakrajsek, thinks that given a full Olympic cycle to adapt, it might be a different story for Team USA in four years.

“You're starting to see a lot of up-and-coming kids trying the triples, trying the triple-triples, and even below juniors," Zakrajsek told The Associated Press. "They're doing all the jumps at a much younger age, and that's what is going to help get the American women back on the world scene.”

The president of U.S. Figure Skating, Sam Auxier, said in an interview that America could start to make strides sooner, at world championship events before the 2022 Olympics.

“I think post-Olympics, when the next generation comes up, we’ll see more difficulty on the technical side from our skaters,” Auxier told The New York Times. “It’s possible that we’ll get back on the podium in the next couple of years.”

In addition to having a scoring system that is better adapted to the IJS, Weisiger said the United States' neighbors to the north do other things better too.

“Canada, in their infinite wisdom, has made it mandatory to learn all the different takeoffs” as juveniles, Weisiger said.

TRAINING OFF THE ICE
She and Haddad also pointed out some cultural elements that they think have contributed to the American decline, including a lack of state and school funding for figure skaters.

“If they’re talented, but they don’t have any money, they’re probably not going to make it,” Haddad said. “I think it’s a problem here.”

Haddad, who skated at the 1992 Albertville Olympics and is now a choreographer and performer at Ice Theatre New York, thinks the incentive for skaters to train hard in nations that have improved in recent years, like Russia and China, is greater than the incentive American skaters have.

“From 3, 4 years old (skaters from other countries) are already conditioned to be a champion. Which I don’t think this is the case here,” Haddad said. “We also talk about enjoying life, having a balanced life, trying to combine everything here and the kids are not used to really working that hard that young.”

Weisiger agrees that other countries have better organization than the U.S., where “the kids basically developed on their own and the ones that made it through are tough girls like Mirai [Nagasu], and I think we lost a generation.”

One missing link that she highlighted was off-ice training to develop both power and artistry. Russian women get that, and “they have the explosiveness of a gymnast with the beauty of a dancer and the skating skills of an ice skater,” Weisiger said.

“(Russians) really have the ballet background and they are training very, very young,” Haddad added. “They have a different mentality than American kids and American skaters.”

Beyond their mastery over the IJS, their ballet background and the way they train, one thing is inarguable about Medvedeva and Zagitova: they are always on.

“The name of the game is consistency,” said Inman, the Olympic judge. “And our girls without question are not consistent.”

Consistency has been hard to establish. Inman described Tennell, who finished ninth in women’s figure skating in Pyeongchang, as America’s most consistent skater right now. But Tennell has dealt with injuries, and only recently burst onto the scene as U.S. national champion.

Weisiger thinks Team USA can make up the ground it has lost as soon as the next Olympics, Beijing 2022, thanks in part to young skaters like Alyssa Liu taking more risks now that they have the right incentives.

“I think we’ll catch up, I really do,” she said. “I see it coming. It just needed to have a chance to grow and develop the potential.”

The search is on for a billionaire jeweler whose diamonds have been worn on the red carpet by celebrities like Kate Winslet and Dakota Johnson after the man was accused in two fraud schemes, Reuters reported.

An Indian state-run bank alleged that Nirav Modi, whom Forbes has said is worth $1.8 billion, helped defraud one of the bank's branches of about that much money going back to 2011. The Punjab National Bank also accused Modi of taking part in another, smaller fraud scheme.

India's Central Bureau of Investigation has been looking for Modi since Feb. 4, and authorities have taken possession of a Rolls-Royce, a Porsche and other properties of his worth about $81 million in total.

A lawyer for Modi has denied that Modi committed any wrongdoing, and his flagship company, Firestar Diamond, said it had no involvement in the case.

During the 2018 Winter Olympics, 301 medals were awarded. Here's how that number breaks down.

Total Medals by Country
Norway led the way with 39 total medals, the most ever in a Winter Olympics -- breaking the record of 37 held by the United States since the Vancouver Olympics in 2010. Germany finished second with 31 total medals. The United States landed in fourth place with 23. Full medal count table

Related: Which Countries Dominate the Winter Olympics?

Medals Per Athlete
The Netherlands had 34 total athletes competing in Pyeongchang and won 20 medals, leading the way for most medals per athlete. Kjeld Nuis won two gold medals for the Netherlands, and Ireen Wust won a gold and two silver. Norway came in second (39 medals with 109 athletes), and the United States came in 16th place after sending 242 athletes and winning 23 medals. 

Team USA's Medals by Sport
Of the United States' 23 medals, 11 of them were in extreme sports (freestyle skiing and snowboarding). Here's a breakdown of the medals by sport.

Related: Red, White, Blue and Gold: Watch Every US Gold Medal Performance Photos: US Medal Winners for the 2018 Winter Olympics

Related: Red, White and Bruised, US Struggles to Win Medals

Team USA Medal Totals by Year
Many expected the U.S. to have a chance at breaking its own record of 37 medals in the Winter Olympics - including American officials themselves. Instead, Norway did it, and the U.S. didn't come close.

Here's a historical look at Team USA's medal totals.

Medals by Gender
The Olympics were disappointing for the Americans in terms of medal count, but it was American women that prevented it from being disastrous. Women accounted for 12 of America's 23 medals, including standout gold-medal performances by snowboard Chloe Kim, cross-country skiers Jessie Diggins and Kikkan Randall and women's hockey team. 

In fact, the 2018 Games marks the first time since 1998 that women have won more medals than men for Team USA. Related article: Who Runs Team USA? Women

Hundreds of people came together for a basketball game in Granby Friday night to help a fifth grader who is hospitalized after a freak accident. 

Ten-year-old Katie O'Neill was on a hike during at a birthday party at McLean Game Refuge on Feb. 20 when a tree fell as she passed underneath it and hit her. 

Katie remains in the hospital and the community came together in a show of support to the girl and her family. 

Katie’s basketball coach, Tim Heinze, said the idea came together on Thursday to fill the gym for Katie during the Granby vs. East Granby game. 

“She's a great kid and we just all want her back on her feet as quick as possible,” he said. 

Among the many people who went to the event was UConn legend and WNBA star Rebecca Lobo. 

“When something happens to somebody in your community, when you live in a small town, you band together and do what you can for that little girl,” Lobo said. 

Organizers said the money raised during the game will go to Katie's parents for her medical bills. 

One person who was in a car that went over an overpass on Route 2 East in Marlborough Thursday afternoon had been shot, according to state police, and three people sustained life-threatening injuries when they were thrown from the car.

Police said they received reports of a crash at exit 15 at 3:30 p.m. Thursday and found three people had been thrown from the car.

They had life-threatening injuries and were transported to the hospital for treatment.

The State Police Collision Analysis Reconstruction Squad responded to the scene to assist and a gun was found inside the car, according to state police.

As they investigated further, police determined that one of the people in the car had been shot.

Detectives with Eastern District Major Crime were notified and responded to Hartford Hospital and they are assisting with this investigation.

Anyone with information is asked to call Detective Utermarck at 860-896-3248, Eastern District Major Crime at 860-896-3230 or text TIP711 and the information to 274637.