Close to 1,000 people attended a vigil in Parkland, Fla., Thursday night for the victims of Wednesday’s school shooting. Many in attendance sobbed as the names were read of the 17 students and teachers who died when 19-year-old Nikolas Cruz stormed Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School near the end of the school day. Those killed included assistant football coach Aaron Feis, 37, who died while shielding students from bullets, and geography teacher Scott Beigel, 35, who was gunned down after unlocking and opening his classroom door to let in fleeing students.

UPDATE: The teen charged with 17 counts of murder after a shooting at a South Florida high school confessed to sheriff’s department investigators that he killed his former schoolmates. Nikolas Cruz, 19, who used a semi-automatic rifle and had more amunition in his backpack that he didn’t use, told Broward County Sheriff's deputies he shot students outside Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School and in the hallways before dropping the gun and backpack in an attempt to blend in with other teens fleeing his carnage.

Florida voters will decide in November whether former felons may join their ranks at the polls. The referendum on proposed Amendment 4 will reveal whether Sunshine State residents are willing to grant free speech, in the form of a vote, to lawbreakers usually seen as undeserving.

The Trump administration late Tuesday said it would not allow oil drilling off the coast of Florida, reversing course from just five days ago when Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke announced an expansive offshore drilling plan. Zinke said on Tuesday night drilling in the waters of the eastern Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Florida was “off the table” after a meeting with Florida Gov. Rick Scott.

Freezing temperatures continued Wednesday across much of the United States, with a brutal winter storm slated to scatter snow, sleet, and freezing rain across normally balmy Southeast coastal areas. Snow started to fall early Wednesday as far south as Tallahassee, Fla. Officials closed water attractions at central Florida’s largest theme parks—including Disney’s Typhoon Lagoon and SeaWorld’s Aquatica—because of the cold snap. Freezing rain coated historic Savannah, Ga., early Wednesday, closing schools, businesses, and City Hall. Georgia Gov.

Tampa, Fla., police on Tuesday arrested and charged a man with four counts of first-degree murder in connection to a series of fatal shootings in the last two months. Police Chief Brian Dugan said at a news conference Wednesday morning the suspect, 24-year-old Howell Emanuel Donaldson, had not yet admitted to the killings but was cooperating with police. A tip by a local McDonald’s employee Tuesday afternoon led to the arrest. Donaldson asked a fellow employee to hold a bag with a loaded semiautomatic gun while he went to a nearby business.

UPDATE: President Donald Trump’s comments this week about contacting families of fallen soldiers continues to elicit reactions from some involved. Cowanda Jones-Johnson, the mother of fallen soldier Sgt. La David Johnson, came to the defense of her daughter-in-law on Wednesday, saying she was in the car with her son’s widow when the president called on Tuesday and overheard Trump saying that Sgt. Johnson “knew what he signed up for.” Trump continues to deny the report.