The county sheriff in charge of investigating the mass school shooting in Parkland, Florida, pleaded with lawmakers on Thursday to give police and doctors more power to involuntarily hospitalize people for psychiatric evaluation over violent and threatening social media posts.
The sheriff, Scott Israel, of Broward County, described the accused shooter's social media posts as "very disturbing" at a news conference and asked state and federal legislators to expand the state's Baker Act, which says a person can be detained against their will for up to 72 hours under certain circumstances.
The accused, Nikolas Cruz, 19, has confessed to the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School on Wednesday, authorities said. He has been charged with 17 counts of premeditated murder.
Israel said the Baker Act allows law enforcement or medical professionals to confine a person involuntarily, "but you have to have a reason, you have to be able to articulate that they're a threat to themselves or a threat to someone else."