Apple offers FBI help with accessing gunman's phone

Apple will offer the FBI, technical advice after learning that agents were trying to access the cell phone of the man who massacred more than two dozen at a South Texas church.

In a statement Wednesday, Apple also assured the FBI that it would expedite responses to any legal process the bureau sends the company. Apple says the FBI had not requested its assistance.

A person familiar with the discussions says Apple contacted the FBI to offer technical advice after learning from a Texas news conference that the bureau was trying to access the church gunman's cellphone.

The person spoke on condition of anonymity, citing the sensitivity of the discussions. Depending on the model of iPhone and what security features it had, FBI agents might have had a short window to use alternative methods to access its data. For instance, if the iPhone used Apple's Touch ID fingerprint sensing system, which is available in newer phone models, agents could have tried placing the dead gunman's finger on the phone to unlock it. But that could only have worked in the 48 hours since the last time the phone was locked.

Eleven people remain hospitalized following the shooting at First Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs that left more than two dozen worshippers dead.