Students hold their hands in the air as they are evacuated by police from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., on Feb. 14. AP
Not one but four sheriffs deputies hid behind cars instead of storming Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School during last weeks school shooting, according to a new report.
Sources from Coral Springs Police Department tell CNN that when officers arrived on the scene, they were shocked to find three Broward County Sheriffs deputies behind their cars with their weapons drawn.
The schools armed resource officer, Deputy Scot Peterson was also outside he resigned Thursday over his failure to act.
The cops entered the building to engage the shooter on their own, and then a new batch of Broward County deputies arrived, and two of those officers plus an officer from Sunrise, Florida joined the police inside the building, the sources said.
Its unclear if the shooter was still inside at the time, CNN reports.
Bad blood has been brewing between the two law enforcement groups ever since the Feb. 14 massacre.
Coral Springs City Manager Mike Goodrum confronted Broward County Sheriff Scott Israel over the incident during a vigil the following day, saying injured kids could have been dying inside the building while the deputies held back, sources tell CNN.
In response, Israel said Coral Springs cops first showed up after confessed gunman Nikolas Cruz had left the school.
The sheriff in comments to the Miami Herald seemed to suggest that, even had these three deputies charged into Building 12 of Douglas HS, it would have been too late anyway.
We know it was approximately four minutes after the shooter departed the school when the first Coral Springs police officers arrived, Israel told the paped. Were investigating every aspect of this.
A day after Goodrums confrontation with Israel, Coral Springs Police Chief Tony Pustizzi wrote in an internal memo:
I understand that another agency has given the impression that it had provided the majority of the rescue efforts, and that the tremendous work of the Coral Springs Police and Fire Departments has not been recognized.
Please know that this issue will be addressed, and the truth will come out in time, he added.
The Coral Springs officers experiences will be included in a new report coming out next week, according to the news site.
Poster Comment:
Too dangerous in that school, those kids are on their own!
And these heroes all went home safely to their families. /s