Florida school shooting: Broward sheriff probes claim that more deputies did not immediately enter school

Christal Hayes | USA TODAY

Show Caption Hide Caption Broward County Sheriff: Armed school officer 'never went in' Video footage has surfaced of Scot Peterson, the armed school resource officer who resigned after Broward County Sheriff Scott Israel said he failed to confront the alleged gunman in last week's school massacre. (Feb. 23)

More Broward County deputies are under investigation for their response to the high school shooting in South Florida that left 17 dead, and it's leaving the department on the defensive as more accusations are made public.

The department is investigating a claim that several deputies stayed outside Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., during the response to the mass shooting instead of immediately going inside. Already, Sheriff Scott Israel has said the first deputy there, the school's resource officer, did not go inside even though the gunman was actively shooting.

The investigation became public after several media reports, citing unnamed officials in the nearby Coral Springs Police Department, said officers who responded to the Feb. 14 shooting were concerned because Broward deputies did not immediately enter the building to help those who had been injured inside.

The department released a defensive statement late Saturday and a letter by Israel, trying to right what they say are inaccuracies and quell one lawmaker's call to have Israel removed from office.

"Detectives are investigating the claim from the Coral Springs Police Department that some deputies did not go into the school when they should have. Stop reporting it as a fact," the statement said. "There is no confirmation, at this time, other deputies did not enter the school when they should have."

The department said "investigators will not be rushed or asked to jump to conclusions" and "their investigations are thorough and methodical," adding officials would be examining surveillance footage, more than 80 calls to 911 for help, radio transmissions and incident reports, as well as talking with both officers and witnesses.

The department also released a two-page letter Israel sent to Florida Gov. Rick Scott in response to Republican state Rep. Bill Hager asking for Scott to remove Israel from his post as sheriff.

Israel says that the additional deputies did not get there until the attack was over and the school resource officer, Deputy Scot Peterson, was the only law enforcement officer there when accused gunman Nikolas Cruz was actively shooting.

He also says that Coral Springs officers were the first law enforcement officers to enter the school after the rampage and were later followed by his deputies.

"I am very proud of the incredible work that so many from BSO and other agencies (including CSPD, FDLE, Sunrise, FBI, ATF and others) performed on February 14," Israel said in the letter. "And I am equally appalled that Rep. Hager felt a need to engage in disingenuous political grandstanding, perhaps in the hope he will garner some headlines, at the expense of the truth."

More: 'It's devastating': Cop stayed outside during Florida massacre while students died

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It's still unclear whether deputies did indeed hesitate before going inside the school.

Israel was asked Thursday during a press conference about whether his deputies were told to wait for SWAT officers before going into the building.

The sheriff told a reporter he did not know anything about that and quickly moved on to another question.

The internal investigation is at least the third announced in the department in the aftermath of the school shooting.

Peterson, the school's armed resource officer, charged with protecting the school, resigned after Israel placed him under investigation after footage at the school showed he never went inside the school as the rampage was unfolding, Israel announced Thursday.

Peterson arrived within a minute and a half of the start of the shooting. Israel said Peterson stayed outside for about four minutes as the killing happened inside, which directly violates how law enforcement across the country are trained to respond to active shooters.

Israel also provided details Thursday on nearly two dozen calls the department had gotten regarding Cruz or his family. He said deputies who responded to two previous incidents before the shooting were being investigated to see whether they could have done more and whether any policies were violated.

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