Two police officers have emotionally recalled the terrifying moment they entered the Florida school where a gunman was on the loose while a number of sheriff deputies cowered outside.

Coral Springs Police Department officers Chris Crawford and Sgt. Jeff Heinrich recounted their heroics during a local news conference on Friday, describing the 'surreal' events of that fateful Valentine's Day.

The incident 'was bad as you can imagine — times 10,' Crawford said in the aftermath of the campus shooting. 'I have a 2-year-old. I don't want to send him to school.'

Coral Springs Police Department officers Chris Crawford (L) and Sgt. Jeff Heinrich (R) recently recounted their heroics during a news conference

The incident 'was bad as you can imagine — times 10,' Crawford said in the aftermath of the campus shooting

A Marine veteran, Crawford recounted the 'awful' task of having to treat children suffering from gunshot wounds, adding that he wished he 'could have saved all of them.'

Crawford said that he stuffed 'combat gauze,' a medical dressing with a clotting agent, into the wounds of a 14-year-old boy who was shot in the back, and treated a young girl for a shrapnel injury.

He then entered into the school building, where students had barricaded themselves into a classroom, having to 'negotiate with [them] to come out' after sliding his ID badge under the door. 'I don't blame them,' he added.

The shooting was carried out by 19-year-old Nikolas Cruz (pictured), who admitted to the shooting less than 48 hours later

Meanwhile, Sgt. Jeff Heinrich, who was off duty when the shooting commenced, ran to Marjory Stoneman after quickly realizing his wife and son were at the school.

Arriving to the facility, Heinrich told the local broadcaster that he helped care for a wounded child before putting on a bullet proof vest.

'By the grace of God, my wife and my son who are at opposite ends of the school, [..] they both heard the fire alarm and decided to evacuate,' Heinrich said.

Soon after the deadly attack ended, it was discovered that at least four Broward County Sheriff's deputies failed to enter the Parkland, Fla., school building while a lone gunman wielding a semiautomatic AR-15-style assault rifle massacred 17 people.

Deputy Scott Peterson was initially the only law enforcement officer present on February 14 when the rampage started, Broward County Sheriff Scott Israel said.

Peterson's actions were caught on video during the massacre, which ranks as the second-deadliest shooting ever at a U.S. public school, carried out by 19-year-old Nikolas Cruz who admitted to the shooting less than 48 hours later.

'What I saw was a deputy arrive at the west side of Building 12, take up a position and he never went in,' said Sheriff Israel, referring to the building on campus, popularly known as the 'freshman building,' where authorities said the bulk of the shooting occurred.

Scot Peterson (Pictured right) was initially the only law enforcement officer present on February 14 when the rampage started

Israel told reporters the shooting in the Fort Lauderdale suburb of Parkland lasted six minutes, and that Peterson arrived at the freshman building about 90 seconds after the first shots were fired, then lingered outside for at least four minutes.

Asked what the deputy should have done, Israel replied: 'Went in. Addressed the killer. Killed the killer.'

Peterson has not given a reason for why he did not enter the building, Israel said.

Neither the deputy nor any representatives could immediately be reached for comment.

Israel said he would not release the video at this time and may never do so, 'depending on the prosecution and criminal case' against Cruz, the 19-year-old former student who is charged with 17 counts of premeditated murder in the assault.

Authorities have said that Cruz, who was expelled from Stoneman Douglas High last year for unspecified disciplinary problems, made his getaway moments after the shooting by blending in with students fleeing the school for safety.

Broward County Sheriff Scott Israel (pictured) said he had decided on the basis of his findings to suspend Peterson, but the deputy resigned first

Police officers arriving on the scene from the adjacent city of Coral Springs thought the gunman was still inside as they searched the building, based on a security camera video feed that they mistakenly believed was showing them real-time images but was actually footage from 20 minutes earlier.

Coral Springs Police Chief Tony Pustizzi told reporters on Thursday that the confusion stemmed from human error and a 'communication failure,' not malfunctioning equipment.

He insisted that the mishap did not put any lives in danger.

The Broward sheriff has said Cruz, after slipping away from the school, casually spent more than an hour drifting through a Walmart store and visiting two fast-food outlets before he was spotted and arrested.

Israel said he had decided on the basis of his findings to suspend Peterson, but the deputy resigned first.

Israel said two other deputies were placed on restrictive administrative assignment, stemming from their response to numerous calls for service and reports received by the sheriff's department pertaining to Cruz during the past 10 years.

Republican governor of Florida Rick Scott (Pictured) said that he would be opened to instituting some modest gun-control measures in the state

The shooting has led to a fierce national debate over the wisdom of current gun-control standards and what steps can be taken to stop mass killings on school campuses in the future.

The National Rifle Association, or NRA, has pushed back, however, arguing that law abiding citizens shouldn't have their second amendment right abridged due to a handful of deranged individuals.

Republican governor of Florida Rick Scott said that he would be opened to instituting some modest reforms in the state, including raising the minimum age for gun purchases from 18 to 21 while calling for a police officer to be assigned to every campus.

Earlier this week, President Donald Trump weighed into the conversation, floating an NRA approved idea that proposes putting weapons in the hands of highly trained teachers.

Trump tweeted the idea out on Wednesday, saying that up to 20 per cent of educators with military or special training experience should be allowed to carry firearms in the classroom.

He later doubled down on the proposal during a speech he delivered at the Conservative Political Action Conference, telling convention goers: 'A teacher would have shot the hell out' of Cruz.

The National Rifle Association has been pushing back against the call for tighter gun restrictions since the Florida school shooting earlier this month (NRA Executive Vice President and CEO Wayne LaPierre)

'When we declare our schools to be gun-free zones it just puts our students in far more danger,' he continued. 'Well-trained gun-adept teachers and coaches and people who work in those buildings' should be allowed to have 'concealed carry permits' for firearms.'

'They love their students! They don't want their students to be killed and to be hurt,' he said of 'patriots' who could become schools' first line of defense against crazed attackers.

Thousands leapt to their feet when Trump outlined a scenario in which an armed teacher might have met last week's Florida school shooter in the hallway – and 'would have shot the hell out of him before he knew what happened.'

As he left the White House for the event, the president told reporters that the National Rifle Association also 'wants to do the right thing.'

Trump also pledged: 'We're going to do something about it. We're going to make changes.'

Trump's deadly serious moments included a line urging Americans to back 'common sense measures that will protect the rights of law-abiding Americans while helping to keep guns out of the hands of those who pose a danger to themselves and to others.'

'It's not, "Do you love guns?" "Do you hate guns?"' he said. 'It's common sense.'

Trump needs to thread this needle if he hopes to drag Republicans a few inches toward a new gun control regime while also persuading Democrats to cede the credit for accomplishing it.

US President Donald J. Trump speaks at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) at the Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center in National Harbor Feb. 23

Earlier this week, President Donald Trump weighed into the conversation, floating an NRA approved idea that proposes putting weapons in the hands of highly trained teachers

That, the White House has signaled, will be accomplished through a series of emotionally charged events like the one on Wednesday that saw grieving students and bereaved parents sit down with the president for a listening session.

'On Wednesday, I had the honor of meeting with students from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, with families who have lost their children in prior shootings – great families, great people – and with members of the local community right here in Washington, D.C.,' Trump said.

'Our whole nation was moved by their strength and courage.'

'We listened to their heart-wrenching stories, asked them for ideas and pledged to them ... that we will act. We will do something,' he vowed, saying 'there are not enough tears in the world' for suffering families.

At the White House, however, he used the word 'coward' to describe an armed deputy at the school who stayed out of harm's way instead of confronting the shooter who ultimately claimed 17 lives.

'He was not a credit to law enforcement. That I can tell you,' trump said, adding: 'He was tested under fire, and that wasn't a good result.'

Trump emphasized the need for tighter mental-health screening of prospective gun buyers, while also arguing for giving schools the same level of firepower as other 'soft' targets.

From left, President Donald Trump, Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School student students Carson Abt, and Ariana Klein, listen as Carson's father Frederick Abt, speaks Feb. 21