>> good evening, i'm jim rosenfield. we have team coverage of this still developing tragedy tonight. miguel martinez-valle in parkland, florida, where that massacre unfolded. lauren mayk in washington is asking local lawmakers about their plans to try to stop school gun violence and steven fisher is speaking to parents in our area about the safety in school. but we begin with new information in florida. the school shooting suspect is now held without bail after making his first appearance in court just a few hours ago. there he is in the orange jump suit in the upper right of your scre screen. target police cruz confessed to the shooting. we also learned the fbi was alerted last september about a post that cruz made on youtube saying i'm going to be a professional school shoot er. cruz is accused of firing into five classrooms before dropping his rifle and blending in with students running out of the school. >> the suspect arrived at the walmart store.

he bought subway and left the walmart on foot. the suspect went to mcdonald's, sat down for a short period of time, this was at 3:01 p.m. and he left on foot. >> 40 minutes after he left mcdonald's, cruz was arrested. you may be able to seep him in the ploon shirt as he was taken into custody. the arresting officer says cruz looked like a typical high school student at the time. 14 other people were wounded in the attack at margery stoneman douglas high school. 13 of them are still hospitaled. two in critical condition. authority says cruzs was armed with an assault rifle when he opened fire inside the school yesterday afternoon. president trump today condemns the shooting. >> we are all joined together as one american family. and your suffering is our burden also. >> the president didn't mention guns or gun control during his

address today. he did announce plans to visit parkland, florida. we're learning about the 17 people killed as well this evening. one a senior who committed to swim for the university of indianapolis. another was a 14-year-old freshman who was a member of the school's color guard. the football coach at the school for ten years died acting as a human shield to protect students. tonight he's being called a hero. >> the kids in this community loved him. they aed him. he was one of the greatest people i knew. he was a phenomenal mab. >> today hundreds of people together for a prayer vigil for the victims. they released 17 balloons for the 17 students and staff who died. another vigil will be held in about an hour. our coverage continues now with miguel martinez-valle, who is live in parkland, florida, this evening. that grieving community trying to come together tonight.

>> reporter: it's been a hard few days here in this community. a lot of grieving, but also a lot of unity. just to show you how much unity and how much this community has come together, take a lack behind me. the vigil is set to start. you can see hundreds or thousands of people have already shown up. there are crosses that are being placed around this. there's music and a stage being decorated. everybody that i have seen or most people have been coming in with some kind of flower or some with notes to remember those victims of their friends and peers. this has really touched this community at its heart. and you can tell how much it's really touched them by the number of people out here. there's some music that's playing in the background. there's a lot of hugging and embracing that's going on. that's something that was also happening inside the building and inside one of the grieving spaces that was designated by the city. now they had counsellors,

emotional support dogs. so they had a lot of these kinds of tools for the people that needed them at their disposal. that was here in the park. and people inside were really taking advantage of those and one of those people, one of those families i talked to were telling me just about the tragedy and about the horror they lived yesterday for those few hours. >> when i heard him walking, i was like i give up. and i said i love you to everyone. >> it was a nightmare. for one hour i didn't hear from her. it just seemed like a lifetime. >> i saw my dad and i gave him a hug. >> i started hugging her. >> could not. stop hugging her. i have been hearing that a lot for the first time that the kids see their parents see loved ones. just that embrace. you can still see here more people showing up to the vigil.

more people are expected to come. this really is the community coming together and mourning together. it's going to be a long road and healing, but it has already started here today. i'll send it back to you guys. miguel martinez-valle, nbc 10 news. >> a long road indeed. we'll look for more from you tonight at 11:00. the massacre there in florida, is the 18th time a gun has been fired on school grounds in the u.s. so far this year that's 18 shootings in less than 50 days. it's prompting renew ed calls fr congress to take action. a deadly shooting outside lincoln shooting in northeast philadelphia is among those 18 shootings we mention ed. a man was killed after a basketball game two weeks ago. lauren mayk went to washington today to try to ask local lawmakers what are you doing to end gun violence in schools. what are they telling? >> reporter: i can tell you there won't be any action taken here for at least the next week. senators just wrapped up their

work. house members were done earlier today. they not be in washington tomorrow. they will not be in washington all next week. now we came here after this shooting in florida to talk to members of congress and ask them what can be done. what is going to be done to prevent this kind of thing from happening again. there are some calls for action, but no consensus on where to start. whether that is guns themselves or with mental health. and we have seen this before. other mass shoot thags did not result in major legislative action. we asked lawmakers what they are doing and whether this time something will change. >> do you see something happening? >> it's been so quick. this. happened yesterday afternoon and here we are today. i haven't had too many conversations with my colleagues about it. most of them have left town. but i think there's a general sense that something needs to happen. >> the real issue is we need to do something.

not just stand up and do all kinds of ceremonies for people in memorial. we need to do something. i think it's clear this should not be a partisan issue. >> reporter: i mentioned that we have seen these shootings before. i was here in washington, d.c., last year when members of congress were fired on at a congressional baseball practice. the next day that was the focus here in the capital. it was the thing that everyone was talking about. and i can tell you that is not the case today. it is on people's minds, but it is not top of the agenda. live in washington, d.c., i'm lauren mayk, nbc 10 news. >> very telling saying he hasn't heard much from colleagues today and he said they have gone home. the session is over. >> reporter: yeah, they are on recess for all of next week. >> lauren mayk live for us from washington, d.c. in the meantime, the nra

released this statement saying, quote, weave a long standing policy of not comment iing unti the facts are known. leaders in local community are urging people to speak up after the massacre in florida. delaware county counselman john mcbane says there's help available and crisis teams ready to offer support, but it's important not to stay quiet if you think a classmate or neighbor may need help. >> we would ask you to reach out to your school officials. please say something. >> the county is in talks with several schools to make live feeds available in 911 dispatch centers to allow the dispatchers to hear what's going on and pinpoint where s.w.a.t. teams are needed during an emergency. also there's a panic button in all public and private schools in delaware county. our coverage continues with steven fisher now. he's been talking to parents in our area worried their kids might be in danger.

what are you hearing from them? >> reporter: one hugged her son a little tighter. another parent told her daughter to be safe today as she left for school. while parents do say the high school behind me does a great job in keeping their kids safe, they say that it's still in the become of their minds. >> it makes you think about it as a parent. you may or may not see your kids again. >> reporter: that's a thought going through the heads of parents across the country. >> you think they are going to be safe, but unfortunately sometimes there's certain circumstances they are not going to be safe. >> reporter: the reality of another shoot shooting has set in for parents here at wilson high school in north hampton county. >> you do worry. >> reporter: while it may be in the back of their heads, this parent says she's confident in the school's ability to keep her son safe. >> you can't get into the school. >> reporter: she says the school has many safeguards to protect students and staff. >> i try into the kids. >> reporter: while she may be in

the minority of parents, she says she doesn't worry. >> i don't worry. i really, really don't worry. they are doing a good job. >> reporter: the school says they put their safeguards in years ago and aside from that, they also practice safety drills throughout the school year. reporting live, steven fisher, nbc 10 news. >> our coverage of the florida high school massacre continues on "nbc nightly news" with lester holt. that's ahead right here at 6:30. making history on the movie screens, the first ever big budget comicbook story with a black superhero. today a few lucky people got a sneak peek. >> i have seen the trailer. it looks dope. >> it doesn't open until tomorrow, but students are inside this theater rugt now watching it for free. i'm aundrea cline-thomas. i'm going to tell you how employees at a local company are making that happen. after a warm day and here

comes the wet night, we're tracking snow for part of the weekend. a look at what you can expect to see in your neighborhood, next in my first alert forecast. sorry. i can't make it.

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black panther opens nationwide in theaters tomorrow but a few lucky people are getting a sneak peek today. nbc 10's aundrea cline-thomas is joining us live from cherry hill. a lot of excitement surrounding this movie. >> reporter: so much excitement. students are inside this theater now. they are still watching the movie and while it's bring iing classic to life, the hope the students walk away feel iing mo confident. the black panther movie is already setting records. even movie critics agree it's a hit and doesn't open until tomorrow. but today more than 10 high school students are getting an early schoreening for free.

skblif seen the trailer. it looks dope. i'm happy to see it. >> reporter: the marvel comic is set in africa. the african-american cast plays soup e heros andvill rain lains. women also play a powerful role. >> the black panther himself, see him throughout the trailer. this is so cool. he's going to go against anybody he sees defending his kingdom. >> i'm the chair of the black resource group. >> reporter: employees with campbells soup are providing this opportunity to students. they say it's more than entertainment. >> it's often that we don't get to see people of color in these kind of strong roles where they are smart and dynamic and powerful and leaders. and this gives those kids the opportunity to see themselves and reflect in that light. >> reporter: the gesture is well received by these lucky students. >> i u think that was wonderful

because people put bad things on cam dell. >> reporter: the movie is finishing up right now. as students leave, they are going to be getting these cool swag bags to remember their experience. reporting live, aundrea cline-thomas, nbc 10 news. south jersey has 19 new police officers to help serve and protect. the graduation ceremony was held today. the new officers will join several departments in atlantic and ocean counties. now to your first alert forecast. mild temperatures out there to end the workweek. meteorologist glenn "hurricane" schwartz is here with big changes in the forecast too. >> the weather is going to be pretty wild over the next week here. big differences from day-to-day. warm and damp tonight and tomorrow morning. but by saturday night, it's snowing across a good bit of the area.

and extremely warm next week near record warmth coming next week. but first we have first alert for the accumulating snow and pennsylvania suburbs and lehigh valley. the timing here is generally 6:00 p.m. saturday to 5:00 a.m. sunday. so it looks like all your activities for sunday should be okay. it's just that narrow period in the middle of the night where you could get this burst of sfoe. 3 to 6 inches in some of the suburbs. with some roads impacted at the peak of the storm when the snow is coming down hard. heavy, wet snow. you can see this is rain coming in had tonight. some of that is on the heavier side. we have a tremendous jet stream coming from the pacific ocean spreading moisture all over the place. so we have a wet forecast. today's high is 61. it was 68 in reading.

so it's warm now. got up to 73 in washington, d.c. got into the 80 nz dallas. you get a con frast trast like this and you're going to get some wild things. and that is case. as we go through the night tonight, we have rain. but it's very warm. not going to need the had heavy coat tonight or tomorrow. here's tomorrow morning. still in the mid-50s. but we have a good bit of rain during the morning hours. it clears out later in the day. but temperatures don't drop that much until we get to friday night and saturday morning. and we're getting into the 20s. and that sets us up for the next storm riding that jet stream coming in in the afternoon late in the afternoon. we're in the 30s to start. so we're talking about snow with temperatures above 302 degrees.

so with the warm roads, a lot of that is likely to melt as it hits. you need heavy snow to cause problems in cases like this when you have these marginal or warm temperatures with big flakes coming out of this. so it's going to be a very interesting couple days we're going to be getting here. then we're going to be seeing some incredible warmth into next week. we have the cold and the snow saturday. we have dry weather sunday and look at this warm weather coming in. that's the weather we have here in beautiful clooer water, florida. coming up at spring training, could they be adding a veteran starting pitcher. that's next.

i'm john clark live in clearwater, florida. day two for pitchers and catchers. the phillies the last couple years have been rebuild iing. now they say they are ready to take that next step. they could use a big veteran starting pitcher out there and so they may take a shot here. take a lock at this.

>> if you close your eyes and think about it, it's now no longer a pipe dream. >> the phillies gm believe this is team is getting closer. so he's making calls about adding a big veteran pitcher. and there are still a handful on the market right now. >> we're opening to adding a starter but even if we don't, we are confident that this starting pitching group is going to take a step forward because they are talented and healthy. >> the search hasn't stopped. we're going to be relentless about the pursuit of upgrading when we can. >> it looks like jared, nola and vasquez will lead the line up. and the phillies will probably go with eight relievers in the bullpen. that is more than normal. >> all of our mix and match options and the versatility and the depth of our bullpen which i

think is if not our biggest strength, one of our biggest strengths. >> but matt will not make an emotional decision to bring in a big name. if it isn't right for the future. >> we want to be playing in october for a decade. not for a year. >> good point this, but would they make a bold move. doug pederson, he was on mike krzyzews krzyzewski's podcast. he may not fill that position because he calls the plays. we'll have to wait and see on that. he also says he does not want full power lienglike andy reid got. he's happy being the play caller. and head coach. i'm john clark. let's send it back to you. >> we just want to keep them happy. thank you from florida. here's a look at what's coming up at 11:00. we'll continue our team coverage from florida on the school massacre. and to avoid more tragedies like

this, a question arises once again. should pennsylvania teachers be armed. we'll take you inside that debate, tonight at 11:00. -if you told me a year ago where i'd be right now...

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if you're not an expert, peco can help. we have lots of ways to help you save energy and money. peco. the future is on. get ready for more olympic action tonight. you're looking live at olympiapark in south korea. don't miss local natives in the figure skating competition here on nbc 10 your home for the winter olympics. and nbc 10's keith jones live from the the winter games in pyeongchang is tonight at 11:00 right here on nbc 10. back here at home a triple birthday sell at the first degree zoo. they partied it up for their third birthday today. the brothers ate cake and enjoyed some quality play time as visitors there sang happy birthday to them. try to stay dry tonight. some showers moving through. >> and that snow saturday night. >> amazing. that's our news at 6:00.

thank you for watching. i'm jim rosenfield. "nbc nightly news" with lester holt is up next. we'll see you again at 11:00. tonight grief and disbelief. new details in the florida high school massacre and the 17 lives cut tragically short. dramatic stories of survival and the hero teachers who shielded students from the bullets. >> coach feis is an american hero. he died saving his students. he died saving us. >> and chilling new video of students hiding in a classroom as the terror unfolded. the suspected shooter in court charged with 17 count of premeditated murder. new questions. were warning signs missed? how the fbi may have been tipped off about him months before the massacre by a threat on youtube. president trump