It is being reported that up to four Broward County Sheriff’s deputies failed to enter the building where the Parkland, FL, shooting was taking place last week, taking up positions instead, behind their vehicles outside the school with their guns drawn
Officers from a neighboring department in Coral Springs officers on the scene and entered the building but were stunned and upset that the four original Broward County officers who were first on the scene did not appear to join them. It is unclear whether the scene was still a live-shooting scene when the additional officers arrived.
Broward County Sheriff Scott Israel released video footage that showed Sheriff’s Deputy Scot Peterson outside of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School for “upwards of four minutes” while the shooting was still a live scene. A gunman, 19-year-old Nikolas Cruz hand entered the school and began firing indiscriminately at students with an AR-15 assault rifle.
“What I saw was a deputy arrive … take up a position and he never went in,” Israel said at a news conference. Israel said of Peterson, he should have “went in. Addressed the killer. Killed the killer.” Peterson was suspended without pay and has since resigned.
The Broward County Sheriff’s Office has confirmed that it is investigating the claims that in addition to Peterson, who was the school’s resource officer at the time of the shooting, additional deputies did not enter the school nor try to engage the shooter.
Reports on the actions of law enforcement officials and first responders from both the Broward County and Coral Springs Police Departments will likely be released in the next one-to-two weeks.