While you were sleeping, we compiled the biggest stories of the day in one place. Each story has a quick and easy summary, so you're prepared for whatever the day brings. Just click on the links if you want to know more!
1. What we know about the Texas elementary school shooting
Frustrated onlookers urged police officers to charge into the Texas elementary school where a gunman's rampage killed 19 children and two teachers, witnesses said Wednesday, as investigators worked to track the massacre that lasted upwards of 40 minutes and ended when the 18-year-old shooter was killed by a Border Patrol team.
Salvador Ramos “barricaded himself by locking the door and just started shooting children and teachers that were inside that classroom,” Lt. Christopher Olivarez of the Department of Public Safety told CNN.
Investigators shed no light on Ramos' motive for the attack, which also left at least 17 people wounded. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said Ramos had no known criminal or mental health history.
2. Florida Legislature approves property insurance package
The Florida House of Representatives on Wednesday gave final passage to sweeping property insurance legislation that creates a $2 billion reinsurance fund and rewrites rules on coverage denials and attorney fees, as lawmakers attempt to stabilize rising rates and insurer losses.
The bipartisan vote in the House capped a special legislative session in which lawmakers approved the broad insurance proposals in three days with little expert analysis in public.
Democrats, the minority party in the statehouse, often pushed to insert measures to ensure rate decreases or freezes but were thwarted by Republicans who argued the wide-ranging legislation could yield decreases in the next 12 to 18 months.
The legislative package now awaits the signature of Gov. Ron DeSantis, a Republican.
3. Biden signs policing executive order on anniversary of George Floyd’s death
Marking the two-year anniversary of George Floyd’s death, President Joe Biden signed an executive order on Wednesday meant to “advance effective, accountable policing and criminal justice practices that will build public trust and strengthen public safety.”
The order will direct the attorney general to create a national database of police misconduct. The White House said the database “will include records of officer misconduct (including convictions, terminations, de-certifications, civil judgments, resignations and retirements while under investigation for serious misconduct, and sustained complaints or records of disciplinary actions for serious misconduct), as well as commendations and awards.”
The order also requires federal law enforcement agencies to create body-worn camera policies, ban the use of chokeholds and carotid restraints unless deadly force is authorized and restricts the use of no-knock entries to a limited set of circumstances.
4. Oz, McCormick race heads into recount in Pa. Senate primary
Pennsylvania’s acting secretary of state, Leigh Chapman, said the vote totals for celebrity heart surgeon Dr. Mehmet Oz and former hedge fund CEO David McCormick fall within the recount margin in state law, which is 0.5%.
Oz, who is endorsed by former President Donald Trump, led McCormick by 902 votes out of more than 1.3 million ballots counted as of Wednesday.
It's unclear whether a recount will be the end of the election. McCormick has filed a lawsuit about which mail-in ballots should be counted.
5. Twitter to pay $150M penalty over the privacy of users' data
Twitter will pay a $150 million penalty and put in new safeguards to settle federal regulators' allegations that the social platform failed to protect the privacy of users' data over a six-year span.
The Justice Department and the Federal Trade Commission announced the settlement on Wednesday with Twitter. The regulators allege that Twitter violated a 2011 FTC order by deceiving users about how well the company maintained and protected the privacy and security of their nonpublic contact information.
The government alleged that the violations occurred from May 2013 to September 2019.
Today's Forecast
Mainly dry today, then showers and storms return to the forecast tomorrow
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On This Day In History
The first copies of the classic vampire novel Dracula, by Irish writer Bram Stoker, appear in London bookshops on May 26, 1897.
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