By: Sharon Aron Baron

A Parkland resident is calling for the immediate suspension of the Broward County Sheriff and the school superintendent for their incompetence in ensuring the safety of the children at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.

On February 14, Nikolas Cruz, 19, entered the school with an AR-15, multiple magazines of ammunition, a gas mask, and smoke grenades before firing at and killing 17 students and faculty members.

“I call on Governor Rick Scott to suspend from office, pursuant to Section 7 of the Florida Constitution, Sheriff Israel, Superintendent Runcie, all members of the school board of Broward County and DCF Secretary Carroll for malfeasance, misfeasance, neglect of duty, incompetence, and permanent inability to perform official duties and appoint replacements that will ensure the safety of our children,” wrote Wayne Alder.

Alder, an attorney with two children, called on Governor Scott to continue to demand that the Director of the FBI Christopher Wray be removed for admitted failures of the agency related to the murders at the school.

In an interview with Bob Norman of WPLG, School Board Superintendent Robert Runcie admitted the school board was aware that Cruz, who was diagnosed as emotionally disabled, was transferred from a special behavioral center to Marjory Stoneman Douglas in 2016, even though educators were aware even before the move that Cruz was preoccupied with guns, violence, and people being killed. Norman questioned why a student who was obsessed with violence and guns would be transferred to a school of 3,300 people.

“We are going to review, you know, obviously, everything that we’ve done around this particular student and figure out what we can do better as a district,” Runcie told Norman.

Alder said that in addition to these failures, the school’s resource officer Scot Peterson, who was armed, failed the students by never entering the building that was under attack. Instead, he took up a position viewing the western entrance of the building. “What I saw [on surveillance] was a deputy arrive at the west side of Building 12, take up a position, and never went in,” said Israel during a press conference on Thursday.

Cruz is facing 17 counts of premeditated murder and is being held without bail.

A Parkland resident of 13 years, Wayne Alder sits on the Parkland Educational Advisory Board and is a litigation attorney with Kaufman Dolowich Voluck. Parkland Talk welcomes all points of views from our residents. Submit News.