Sheriff Scott Israel addresses the news media outside Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School following a school shooting in Parkland, Florida, U.S., February 15, 2018. REUTERS/Thom Baur The school resource officer on Majory Stoneman Douglas’ campus has resigned for not doing anything during the Feb. 14 shooting.
The officer, Deputy Scot Peterson, was reportedly seen in video footage staying outside of a campus building for around four to six minutes as gunshots were blaring. Broward County Sheriff Scott Israel told reporters that Peterson “never went in.” Israel stated that Peterson should have entered the building and confronted the shooting.
“Devastated. Sick to my stomach,” Israel said. “There are no words. These families lost their children. We lost coaches. I’ve been to the funerals. I’ve been to the homes where they sit in shiva. I’ve been to the vigils.”
According to a local ABC affiliate, the first police officers who arrived at the shooting were officers from the neighboring city Coral Springs, not the officers from Israel’s office.
Peterson resigned once an investigation was launched into his conduct.
This is the latest instance of a failure by law enforcement in regards to the shooting. The shooter was reportedly able to escape from the scene for 10 minutes because law enforcement spent nearly a half hour watching what they thought was live footage of the shooting; the video feed was on a 20 minute delay.
It was also recently reported that the shooter’s first host family following the death of his mother alerted local police in November of the shooter’s violent behavior, which included putting a “gun to others heads in the past.”
Additionally, local law enforcement visited the shooter’s home 39 times prior to the shooting and the FBI was tipped off about him twice. Nothing was done.
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