As Gunman Rampaged Through Florida School, Armed Deputy ‘Never Went In’
- 6 years ago
As Gunman Rampaged Through Florida School, Armed Deputy ‘Never Went In’
He said the video showed Deputy Peterson doing “nothing.”
“There are no words,” said Sheriff Israel, who described himself as “devastated, sick to my stomach.”
Two other deputies were placed on restricted duty on Thursday because they may have mishandled tips called in to the sheriff’s office over the past two years warning
that the suspect, Nikolas Cruz, appeared intent on becoming a school shooter, Sheriff Israel said.
In February 2016, the sheriff’s office received what it described as “thirdhand information”
that Mr. Cruz “planned to shoot up the school” and had posted a picture on Instagram of a “juvenile with guns.” A deputy determined that Mr. Cruz had knives and a BB gun and forwarded the information to the school resource officer at Stoneman Douglas High.
The tip about Mr. Cruz appeared to be the second in four months, after another person told the bureau about an online comment apparently posted by Mr. Cruz
that he wanted to become “a professional school shooter.”
The Florida Department of Children and Families, the state social services agency, looked into Mr. Cruz’s well-being in 2016 after he posted on social media
that he was cutting himself, but investigators determined he was not at risk of harming himself or others.
Sheriff Israel, who defended his office’s response on Wednesday
and said his own deputies had not hung back outside the building, said on Thursday that the Coral Springs officers acted “heroically.”
Samantha Fuentes, an 18-year-old senior at Stoneman Douglas High who was shot in both legs, said she never saw Deputy Peterson during the “30 minutes”
that passed before SWAT officers arrived at the first-floor classroom in which she and other students had been taking a class.
He said the video showed Deputy Peterson doing “nothing.”
“There are no words,” said Sheriff Israel, who described himself as “devastated, sick to my stomach.”
Two other deputies were placed on restricted duty on Thursday because they may have mishandled tips called in to the sheriff’s office over the past two years warning
that the suspect, Nikolas Cruz, appeared intent on becoming a school shooter, Sheriff Israel said.
In February 2016, the sheriff’s office received what it described as “thirdhand information”
that Mr. Cruz “planned to shoot up the school” and had posted a picture on Instagram of a “juvenile with guns.” A deputy determined that Mr. Cruz had knives and a BB gun and forwarded the information to the school resource officer at Stoneman Douglas High.
The tip about Mr. Cruz appeared to be the second in four months, after another person told the bureau about an online comment apparently posted by Mr. Cruz
that he wanted to become “a professional school shooter.”
The Florida Department of Children and Families, the state social services agency, looked into Mr. Cruz’s well-being in 2016 after he posted on social media
that he was cutting himself, but investigators determined he was not at risk of harming himself or others.
Sheriff Israel, who defended his office’s response on Wednesday
and said his own deputies had not hung back outside the building, said on Thursday that the Coral Springs officers acted “heroically.”
Samantha Fuentes, an 18-year-old senior at Stoneman Douglas High who was shot in both legs, said she never saw Deputy Peterson during the “30 minutes”
that passed before SWAT officers arrived at the first-floor classroom in which she and other students had been taking a class.