- Florida Man Shot by FBI Was About to Sign Boston Murder Confession: Officials
 Orange County Sheriff's Dept(ORLANDO, Fla.) -- The man shot dead by an FBI agent in Orlando, Fla., early Wednesday was "about to sign a statement" admitting to a role, along with Boston Marathon bombing suspect Tamerlan Tsarnaev, in an unsolved triple murder in Massachusetts in 2011, two people with direct knowledge of the case told ABC News.
Ibragim Todashev "just went crazy," and pulled a knife during his interview with the FBI, said state and federal law enforcement officials briefed on the latest twist in the investigation of the Boston Marathon bombing.
One official said an FBI agent was stabbed several times, although his injuries were described by the FBI as "non-life-threatening."
FBI agents and Massachusetts state police began to question Todashev after his name and phone number were recovered from the phone of the dead bombing suspect. Tamerlan Tsarnaev was killed in a shootout with police days after he and his younger brother Dzhokhar allegedly planted two bombs near the finish line at the Boston Marathon April 15, killing three and injuring more than 260 others. Dzhokhar was later captured and is in custody.
Todashev and Tamerlan Tsarnaev both fought mixed martial arts in the name of Boston's Wai Kru gym, where one of the 2011 triple murder victims, Brendan Mess, also trained, according to law enforcement officials.
According to officials, Todashev was initially being questioned about any role in the marathon bombing when it emerged he had connections to the gruesome murder. There is no indication Todashev was tied to the bombing, sources familiar with the case said.
In the wake of the bombing, detectives developed DNA evidence linking both Tamerlan Tsarnaev and his younger brother Dzhokhar to the triple murder scene.
The three men who were killed had their throats slit and their bodies were left with cash and marijuana placed on top of them. The murder took place on September 11, 2011, the ten year anniversary of the al Qaeda terror attacks on New York and Washington.
Also killed with Mess were Raffael Teken and Eric Weissman.
According to a recent Florida police report, Todashev was arrested May 4 and booked with aggravated battery for allegedly fighting with a father and son over a parking space in a mall parking lot in Kissimmee, Fla. Todashev had told police he fought in self-defense as the son "came at him swinging" after Todashev pushed the father.
Neither father nor son wanted to press charges in relation to the altercation, the report said. The report lists Todashev's place of birth as Russia.
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- 22 People Survived Oklahoma Tornado by Hiding in Bank Vault
 Dena Clark(MOORE, Okla.) -- Dena Clark wasn't supposed to be at the Tinker Federal Credit Union in Moore, Okla., when the tornado hit Monday. Her worried mother knew a storm was coming and was on the phone with Clark telling her to go home.
But living in Oklahoma, Clark had seen so many tornadoes come and go with minimal effect that she decided to stop at the bank because she had a lot of cash in her car from a weekend garage sale at her home.
Clark, 23, was in the middle of a transaction with a bank employee when tornado sirens started going off.
"We're actually going into the vault," the teller told Clark.
"Me too?" she asked.
"Yes," the woman replied.
For the next few minutes, the bank employees and their customers all moved into the bank's vault, a small room filled with deposit boxes and encased in two feet of concrete. The bank manager and a police officer monitored the situation by watching TV and looking out the window. At least one passerby came into the bank seeking shelter.
Clark was texting her husband about whether she should stay or go. At first he told her she could probably head out, but that text was quickly followed by another one: "Tornado on the ground. Stay."
Soon enough, the lights flickered, the TV went off and the power was out.
"Eventually, everyone was in the vault and the bank doors were closed," Clark said. "We had our flashlight and there's several people in there ranging from a 10-year-old boy on his iPad to these elderly people that just happened to be at the bank."
There were 14 employees and eight other people in the vault. There was one problem: They couldn't get the vault door closed all the way from the inside. Someone took off a belt and looped it through an opening meant to let in oxygen so that they could tug the vault door closed as much as possible, she said.
When it still wouldn't close all the way, the branch manager, the police officer and another employee held the door shut "just in case."
"After our ears started popping, I just remember hearing the windows blow out," Clark said. "I could hear the glass hit the ground. It was still relatively calm for a little bit after that but you could hear things."
"They say [a tornado] sounds like a freight train coming, and I agree with that. But it also just sounds like swirling," she said. "We could hear things moving above us, rotating above us. Things started to hit the bank vault."
The bank manager, she said, was shouting, "Don't let go! Don't let go!"
Another bank employee prayed in Spanish, crying out to God to protect them. Clark recalled getting emotional for the first time, she said, at the memory.
"You see movies. I could just picture in my mind the bank vault door ripping away from us and not knowing what was going to happen," Clark said. "I don't know how they kept that bank door shut. I don't know how long we were actually inside the tornado. It felt like forever."
Debris started flying through the cracks of the door and glass cut the feet of people who were wearing sandals. Clark said it became difficult to breathe because of all the dust and debris.
"As soon as the tornado passed, we were all kind of wondering, 'Is there a building out there?'" she said.
When they believed the twister had passed and tried to open the door, they found that they couldn't and began to smell gas.
"We started smelling gas and I was thinking to myself, we survived a tornado and now we're going to explode," Clark said.
The few people with cellphone service who had been calling and texting loved ones then called 911 to say that they were trapped in the bank vault and could smell gas.
Before authorities could arrive, people passing by heard them shouting and came to help.
"They started to dig us out and they pulled back some of the rubble just enough for us to open the door and get out," Clark said. "We made it out of the vault and it was just a sense of relief and people were hysterically crying and hyperventilating."
What she saw shocked her.
"It was unbelievable," she said. "I know it was a miracle. Nothing in the bank was standing except for where we were."
Clark's cellphone battery was running low, but she managed to text her husband, call her mother and snap a photo of the vault before the phone died.
"I believe I found my car. It's what looks like my car. It was standing vertically against some rubble," Clark said. "It's not a big deal. It can be replaced. Lives can't."
Bank officials expressed a similar sentiment.
"Thank you all for your support as we and many of our members found ourselves in the path of yesterday's storm," the bank posted on its Facebook page. "Sadly, our Moore branch was lost. Fortunately, all employees of that branch emerged unscathed, having ridden out the storm in the safety of the vault."
Hours after the tornado, Clark was reunited with her family and found that her house was relatively unscathed.
Clark said she feels "so lucky and so blessed" to have survived the disaster.
"I wasn't supposed to be at the bank," an emotional Clark said. "It was so clearly orchestrated by God."
Copyright 2013 ABC News Radio
- Officials Warn of Businesses 'Preying' on Tornado Victims
 JEWEL SAMAD/AFP/Getty Images(OKLAHOMA CITY) -- Investigators with the Oklahoma Attorney General's office have already uncovered evidence of businesses taking advantage of the recent tornado's devastation by price-gouging in the weather-ravaged region, including a grocery store accused of charging consumers for a case of water.
Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt told ABC News that 30 investigators from his office started aggressively combing the region for fraud just hours after the tornado tore through it -- and immediately found businesses violating the law.
"This is something we were putting in place and starting in motion as soon as we knew the threat existed," Pruitt said. "We're going to places where we think potential harm could occur."
Using a law known as the Emergency Price Stabilization Act, consumer protection investigators are teaming with local law enforcement to catch fraud as it happens. The law was passed after a tornado leveled the same region in 1999 and prohibits price increases of more than 10 percent on goods and services such as water and hotel rooms for 30 days after a disaster. It extends to 180 days for construction-related complaints.
In addition to the cases of bottled water, Pruitt said his team uncovered a hotel in the area that was allegedly overcharging in violation of the law.
"We're looking at everything from work gloves to water to storage units, hotels and car rentals. And long term, we'll be dealing with home construction and repair," he said.
Despite repeated warnings to be on the lookout for scam artists after a disaster, Pruitt said many Oklahomans are still unaware that they can be ripped off.
"They would never anticipate or expect or guess that someone would take advantage of them right now, but this situation is what criminals prey upon," he said.
Pruitt says his investigators are fielding tips from citizens and law enforcement and are operating not only in the area that was directly hit, but surrounding areas where displaced homeowners may end up.
"We pray there is some good that comes out of this, that (criminals) are discouraged when they know someone is there to enforce the law," Pruitt said. "And our citizens should know that they're safe from that."
The Attorney General's office has set up a hotline to report fraud, which can be reached at (405) 521-2029.
Copyright 2013 ABC News Radio
- Jodi Arias Feels 'Betrayed' by Jury
 ABC News(PHOENIX) -- Hours after Jodi Arias asked a jury to spare her life for killing her ex-boyfriend, Travis Alexander, the convicted killer maintained in a jail house interview with ABC News that it would have been "meaningless" to apologize to Alexander's family in court because no one would believe her.
Arias, 32, was convicted of first-degree murder for the June 2008 stabbing and shooting death of Alexander. Arias has been branded a liar by the prosecution because she initially denied killing Alexander, then claimed two years later that she killed him in self-defense.
"I think in a sense, the words, 'I'm sorry,' just seemed meaningless, especially since nobody believes what I'm saying anyway," said Arias, who in court tearfully told the family that she never meant to cause them so much pain, but she did not apologize.
Asked why she didn't apologize to the family in court, Arias replied: "I did apologize to them." Reminded that she did not use the words "I'm sorry," Arias said, "Well, then I'm sorry I didn't say that. Because certainly I am sorry. I think in a sense, I-- the-- the words, 'I'm sorry,' just seemed meaningless, especially since nobody believes what I'm saying anyway. "
She went on to say that, "I think people believe that because I lied, that everything that comes out of my mouth is a lie. Which is unfortunate, because, if that were the case, then that would be true for everyone. Because I don't know somebody that's never lied."
The same jury that convicted Arias will now weigh whether she'll get the death penalty.
"I feel a little betrayed by them," Arias said of the jury. "I don't dislike them. I just was really hoping that they would see things for what they are. And I don't feel that they did."
If the jury opts for a life sentence, the judge will have the option of determining whether she spends the rest of her days behind bars or is eligible for release after 25 years.
"All I know is that, if I were given freedom again, I would handle it very, very responsibly," Arias said. "If you're not abusing me and attacking me and threatening to kill my life, there's no reason to fear."
Following her first-degree murder conviction, she gave an interview to a TV station and said she preferred the death penalty. Arias walked back that comment in her allocution statement to the jury on Tuesday, as she tried to convince them to send her to prison so she would have an opportunity to contribute to society.
"I think that if I stood before the jury asked them to sentence me to death, then it's kind of like asking for assisted suicide," Arias said.
Arias said that receiving the death penalty would only bring more pain to her family and especially Alexander's family.
"I'm hoping that they'll be able to move on and not think about me, if that's even possible. I want them to be able to put it behind them and get peace and get closure," she said. "I get a death verdict, this will drag on and on and on."
Asked if she would sentence herself to death for killing Alexander, she said no because she doesn't believe in "capital punishment." Arias said it will take time to understand the jury's decision if they sentence her to death.
"I will have a rudimentary understanding of why. And I think that understanding would grow with time," Arias said.
While Arias repeated many of her claims from previous interviews and testimony on the witness stand, she shed new light on the behind-the-scenes aspect of the trial. Arias said her lawyers would not allow her to call on witnesses who could have bolstered her claims that she was a victim of domestic violence at the hands of Alexander.
"My attorneys made decisions not to call certain individuals that I feel would have helped me. And I'm not blaming them," Arias said. "There have been a lot of things I don't agree with that my defense attorneys have done or that they've advised me to do. But for the most part, I take their advice."
Arias' case has drawn many connections to the Casey Anthony murder trial. Anthony was acquitted in 2011 of murder in the death of her daughter, Caylee Anthony; much like Arias, she initially told elaborate lies and then claimed at trial that she was a victim.
Many in America expressed outrage, feeling the jury made the wrong decision letting Anthony walk free.
Arias said the attention around the Anthony case may have influenced her first-degree murder conviction.
"I think some, yes. All? No. But I don't think that may be in the minds of some people," Arias said.
If Arias is sent to death row, she will be transferred to Arizona's state prison complex at Perryville.
"I try not to think about it. But if I'm confronted with that reality, then I will deal with it," she said.
Copyright 2013 ABC News Radio
- Cleveland Kidnapping Victims Grateful for Support, Privacy in Letter
 Bill Pugliano/Getty Images(CLEVELAND) -- The three Cleveland women rescued from the kidnappings that kept them in captivity for over a decade say they are "happy and safe" as they continue to recover from the harrowing ordeal.
The attorneys for Amanda Berry, Gina DeJesus, and Michelle Knight released a letter on behalf of their clients thanking the public for their encouragement, as well as for respecting their requests for privacy.
"The outpouring of public support has been nothing short of remarkable," the letter stated. "To have complete strangers offer loving support in the form of money, goods and services, reaching out to help like a family member, is appreciated in ways that are impossible to put into words. Amanda, Gina and Michelle, who have asked for nothing, are frankly overwhelmed by it all."
The women escaped from Ariel Castro's home on May 6.
A charity established to help the women in the aftermath of the kidnappings has raised more than 0,000. Donations will directly benefit Berry, her daughter, DeJesus and Knight.
The letter in full reads:
Amanda, Gina & Michelle Offer Thanks to Community
We are the attorneys who have come together to help Amanda Berry, Gina DeJesus and Michelle Knight.
These three brave women have asked us to give this message to everyone who has expressed concern and support.
Amanda, Gina and Michelle want you to know they are doing well. They are happy and safe and continue to heal, a process that requires time and privacy.
Since we first spoke publicly on their behalf, it has been wonderful to see that their plea for privacy has been answered and respected. The media has disappeared from their front lawns and their neighborhoods are no longer experiencing traffic jams from news vehicles and curious onlookers. You have no idea how much this means to them and has helped in their recovery process.
Their first public message included a simple, heartfelt thanks to well-wishers and supporters for "everything you are doing." That "everything" now includes perhaps the greatest gift of all – the space and time to reconnect with their families and recover and rebuild their lives. And so they say again, "Thank you. Thank you so much!"
We continue to receive numerous generous offers to support Amanda, Gina and Michelle and their families.
The outpouring of public support has been nothing short of remarkable.
To have complete strangers offer loving support in the form of money, goods and services, reaching out to help like a family member, is appreciated in ways that are impossible to put into words. Amanda, Gina and Michelle, who have asked for nothing, are frankly overwhelmed by it all.
You have touched their hearts in ways they will never forget. So again, they collectively say "Thank you. Thank you so much!"
We understand some people may be confused about the best way to help. We are in direct, private and ongoing conversations with Amanda, Gina and Michelle about many matters, including your generosity.
While they appreciate the generous offers of goods and services, for now, they are trying to assess what they need today and for years to come. That's why donations to the Cleveland Courage Funds are so welcome.
We are confident the Cleveland Courage Funds are the legitimate, appropriate and most effective vehicles for this effort. In fact, donations to the Cleveland Courage Funds are already being distributed to the four survivors consistent with the concepts behind the trusts that are being set up. And as soon as the trusts are in place, one-hundred percent of all donations to the Cleveland Courage Funds will go into those trusts.
Cleveland is known for its generosity. Amanda, Gina, Michelle and Amanda's daughter are indeed grateful for that generosity, as are we.
Kathy Joseph, Heather Kimmel, Henry Hilow, and James Wooley are attorneys representing the survivors on a pro bono basis.
Copyright 2013 ABC News Radio
- Devastated Oklahoma Elementary Schools Had No Safe Rooms
 Brett Deering/Getty Images(MOORE, Okla.) -- There are reinforced tornado shelters in more than 100 schools across Oklahoma, excluding the two that were devastated by a Tornado earlier this week in Moore, Okla., an emergency-management official said.
As authorities search the rubble in Moore for possible survivors and bodies, among the unanswered questions is how everyone at Briarwood Elementary School survived while several students died at Plaza Towers Elementary School. Both schools were destroyed when an EF-5 twister with winds of at least 200 mph killed 24 people on Monday and injured hundreds more.
Some people believe those at Briarwood were more fortunate because of the school's construction.
Each grade at Briarwood is organized into four pods with a few classrooms in each pod. An opening to the outside runs through the center of the pods. Teachers said that when the walls and ceilings collapsed, they crawled through that open area and children were passed over the rubble.
Plaza Towers Elementary is more of a traditional school building with a long line of classrooms, all under one single roof. When the school collapsed, the roof and walls piled on top of one another, making it difficult for people to crawl to an outside space.
Both schools had practiced tornado drills but neither had a safe room, which could have potentially saved lives.
"You have limited amount of funds that are based on disasters we've had in the past that are used for mitigation measures and when you have limited number of funds, then you set priorities on what schools that you do want to ask for," Oklahoma Director of Emergency Management Albert Ashwood said.
More than 100 schools across Oklahoma have safe rooms and the state hopes to increase those numbers, Ashwood said.
"We're going to be looking at trying to up that number and try to get more safe rooms across schools across the state, the entire state," he said.
Metal safe rooms can be built above ground or underground and undergo rigorous tests to make sure they can sustain winds up to 250 mph. Researchers have conducted test on safe rooms to show they can withstand being hit by a car.
Moore has been trying to get federal money to subsidize residents who want to buy safe rooms. The city expressed its frustration in February on the city website, saying, "We've found that the FEMA requirements and their interpretations seem to be a constantly moving target, more so with the new wrinkles."
"If you don't have disasters, you don't have additional money for mitigation for safe rooms, but without disasters there's not a set funding source just for safe rooms," Federal Emergency Management Agency Director Craig Fugate said.
Alabama is the only state that requires all new schools to have safe rooms for students.
Many homes in the Midwest, known as Tornado Alley, don't have basements because of loose clay soil or flooding conditions. An indoor safe room might be the best option for families and schools.
"There are above-ground and below -round storm shelters that offer near absolute occupant protection from the worst-case tornado," said Ernst Kiesling, professor of civil engineering at Texas Tech University in Lubbock.
Meanwhile, authorities have searched each damaged home at least once, and the goal is to conduct three searches of each location just to be sure. Moore Fire Chief Gary Bird said he was "98 percent sure" there were no more bodies or survivors in the rubble.
Classes at Moore public schools have been canceled for the remainder of the school year but graduations will continue as planned.
Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano will travel to Oklahoma later Wednesday to meet with state and local officials and ensure that first responders are receiving the assistance they need.
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- Florida Man Shot by FBI Linked to Boston Bombing Suspects?
 Orange County Sheriff's Dept(ORLANDO, Fla.) -- An Orlando man being questioned by the FBI about his relationship with the accused Boston bombers was shot and killed early Wednesday in a "violent confrontation" with authorities, the FBI said.
The man, identified as Ibragim Todashev, was being interviewed by a special agent of the FBI "in connection with the Boston Marathon bombing investigation when a violent confrontation was initiated by the subject," the Bureau said in a statement.
"During the confrontation, the individual was killed and the agent sustained non-life threatening injuries," the FBI said, adding that the incident was under review.
The man killed by the FBI may have lived at one time in Boston, a law enforcement official told ABC News, adding that Wednesday's shooting came as a surprise during a cooperative interview.
A man identifying himself as a friend of Todashev's told ABC News' Orlando affiliate WFTV that Todashev was an acquaintance of Tamerlan and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, the brothers suspected of setting off a pair of bombs near the finish line of the Boston Marathon on April 15, killing three and injuring more than 260 others.
Tamerlan was killed in a shootout with police days after the bombing, while Dzhokhar was injured and later captured.
Copyright 2013 ABC News Radio
- Jodi Arias Could Become Third Woman on Arizona's Death Row
 ABC News(PHOENIX) -- Jodi Arias could become the third woman on Arizona's death row if she is sentenced to death on Wednesday for murdering her ex-boyfriend, Travis Alexander.
If condemned to death row, she would likely face a long sentence, since Arizona has not executed a woman since 1930. But that long sentence would be marked by extreme isolation.
The jury that convicted Arias earlier this month is set to continue their deliberations on Wednesday over whether to give Arias life in prison or the death penalty. They began deliberating at 6 p.m. ET on Tuesday.
Arias and her attorneys begged the jury to spare her life on Tuesday during Arias' allocution statement and the closing arguments, telling the jury that Arias would spend her life behind bars helping others and contributing to society.
But prosecutor Juan Martinez told the jury death is the only just punishment for the June 4, 2008 murder, in which Arias killed Alexander with 27 stab wounds, a slashed throat and a gunshot to the head.
Life on Arizona's death row would mean no contact with other inmates -- including her death row neighbors. Her chance to talk to others would be few. She would be allowed only two 10-minute phone calls per week.
Arias would be permitted visits, but there would be no physical contact with those visitors. And her family is in California, which could make frequent visits difficult.
Her life at Arizona's state prison complex at Perryville, outside of Phoenix, would be largely confined to a 12 feet by 7 feet cell which is outfitted with a toilet, sink, bed and mattress, according to the Arizona Department of Corrections. How she could furnish her cell is strictly limited: just two appliances, hygiene items, two books and writing materials.
Arias, 32, would be allowed outside of her cell to exercise for only two hours on three days a week, plus three showers per week, according to the department. For the rest of her life, Arias would eat all her meals in that cell.
If the jury condemns her, Arias will join on death row Wendi Andriano, 43, who murdered her husband, and Shawna Forde, 46, who was convicted of killing a man and his daughter in an act of vigilante crime with a group of protesters angry over immigration.
Copyright 2013 ABC News Radio
- Gay Rights Advocate Seeks to Overturn Ban on Gay Boy Scouts
 Eliot J. Schechter/NHLI via Getty Images(WASHINGTON) -- As the Boy Scouts of America prepares to vote Thursday on a proposal that would change its long-standing policy of excluding gay boys from Scout units, the executive director of Scouts for Equality, a gay rights advocacy group, is hopeful that the proposal will pass -- but says this is just the first step.
“This is a good step in the right direction, we want youth protection throughout the entire program, and it looks we'll be able to see that on the 23rd,” executive director Zach Wahls tells ABC News. “But after that, we have to make sure that we are telling Scouts that when you turn 18 you are still welcome in the program.”
The proposal up for vote will not change the BSA's policy of banning gay adult leaders. To Wahls, changing that policy is not just political, it's personal.
“As the straight Eagle Scout son of a lesbian couple, I know exactly how important lifting the ban on adults is," he says. "I got to see first-hand when I was growing up in Iowa, the impact that great, wise, loving parents could have in the lives of my Scouters.”
In addition to advocating for policy changes, Wahls says a big focus of his organization’s mission is to increase understanding around LGBT issues, one conversation at a time.
"What we are seeing is the effect of people having conversations and moving past fear," Wahls says. "When we talk about homophobia, literally the fear around this, is people can have person-to-person conversations...and understand that there isn't anything to be afraid of."
Copyright 2013 ABC News Radio
- Terrified Children Asked Oklahoma Teacher, 'Is This Really Happening?'
 Benjamin Krain/Getty Images(MOORE, Okla.) -- As the terrified tornado-whipped students of Briarwood Elementary School in Moore, Okla., cowered on their hands and knees with backpacks over their heads, tearfully pleading for their parents, they asked their teacher, "Is this really happening?"
Sheri Bittle, a first-grade teacher at Briarwood, Tuesday recounted the horror of Monday's twister that she said sounded like a train that kept barreling by as it ravaged her school.
"You could just feel the pressure just building like you were in an airplane, just the pressurization of the cabin and your ears popping and the debris starts flying and the roof falling in," Bittle told ABC News. "And everything in your classroom falling in on you."
The tornado tore a 12-mile path of destruction that killed 24 people, including nine children, and destroyed Plaza Towers Elementary School and Briarwood Elementary School in Moore. For many families, Monday ended in tears of joy after families were reunited. Others were left to wait, hoping for good news while fearing the worst.
"I actually saw the tornado coming straight toward us," Briarwood first-grade teacher Cindy Lowe told ABC News. "I knew there was no turning back then. It was coming. It wasn't something that I was watching on TV. This was really going to happen."
Teachers followed procedure, Bittle said, moving students to interior walls and the innermost area of the school. The children got down on their hands and knees, putting their hands over their heads.
"They were covering their heads with their backpacks," Bittle said. "There was so much debris falling. A roof beam fell on me and another teacher."
Bittle, who escaped major injury, lay on top of her children as the building collapsed around them, and said all the teachers would have done the same. A teacher in the next room had a table leg impale her own leg.
"I was praying," Bittle said. "I yelled it over and over for the Lord to just cover us and save us and to keep us safe. And He did. My entire class was safe and well and got delivered to their parents. The teachers at Plaza Tower didn't have that blessing."
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Seven of the nine children killed in the tornado were students at Plaza Towers Elementary School, officials said.
"I can't imagine," Bittle said through tears, "not being able to give those kids back to their parents that brought them to me that morning."
Oklahoma County Commissioner Brian Maughan confirmed to ABC News affiliate KOCO-TV Tuesday that a number of children at Plaza Towers Elementary School remain unaccounted for.
"It's just a very graphic situation for even those of us who've come obviously well after the storm has passed," he said.
"I know there's a number of dead children from that school," Oklahoma City Police spokesman Sgt. Gary Knight said.
The walls of Plaza Towers Elementary School were "pancaked," Oklahoma Lt. Gov. Todd Lamb told ABC News.
The storm tore off Plaza Towers' roof, knocked down walls and turned the playground into a mass of twisted plastic and metal. Rescue workers passed the survivors down a human chain to the triage center in the parking lot after the tornado passed directly over the school. Briarwood Elementary School received a "direct hit" from the twister and was also destroyed, with its roof and walls blown off.
"Safety is our main priority and the decisions we make are always with safety in mind," Susan Pierce, superintendent of Moore Schools, said at a news conference Tuesday. "We are in the process of learning as much as we can about what has happened and we are reviewing our emergency procedures today."
The two schools were not funded for safe rooms, according to state Director of Emergency Management Albert Ashwood.
"You have a limited amount of funds that are based on disasters you've had in the past that are used for mitigation measures and when you have limited number of funds, you set priorities for what schools you do want to ask for," Ashwood said at the news conference.
He said Briarwood and Plaza Towers were not being left out, but, rather, had not been brought forward yet for safe rooms.
"We're going to be looking to try and up that number and try and get more safe rooms in schools across the state, the entire state," Ashwood said.
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