Local Sheriff Israel Says Armed On Campus Deputy Did Nothing During Parkland Shooting, Officer Suspended
Broward County Sheriff Israel “devastated” armed on school deputy did nothing.
Local officials announced on Thursday, that during the Parkland school shooting Deputy Scot Peterson, of the Broward County Sheriff’s Office, was armed and stationed at the school but never entered the school building, despite knowing a shooting was in progress.
The announcement came from local Sheriff Scott Israel during a press conference in which he stated that video clearly showed the school deputy taking up a position outside of the building but never going in.
Sheriff Israel is reported to have said that he was “devastated. Sick to my stomach. There are no words.” According to Israel, the Peterson remained outside of the building for 4 minutes while the shooting lasted approximately 6 minutes.
Law enforcement went into the building once a full team arrived on scene.
Peterson has been suspended without pay while awaiting the results of an interval investigation.
Sheriff Israel is reported to have said that Deputy Peterson should’ve “went in. Address the killer. Kill the killer.”
Deputy Peterson “was absolutely on campus through this entire event. He was armed, he was in uniform,” Israel said.
Local Miami news station WSVN reported that in 2014, Peterson was named School Resource Officer of the Year for the City of Parkland, with the district saying “Deputy Peterson has proven to be reliable in handling issues with tact and judgment.”
WSVN also reported that, Jenna Korsten, a student mourning at Stoneman Douglas High School, said the news was hard to believe.
“I’m in shock that he hid outside, because we saw people like Feis, who risked his life, and Hixon, who risked his life, and they don’t even have guns,” she said. “If he’s the one with a gun, he should be the one out there with the gun trying to protect the kids. Why was he hiding outside? It just makes no sense to me whatsoever. I mean it just doesn’t make sense to me at all.”
Two other officers have been placed on restrictive duty while officials investigate if more could have and should have been done.
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