Florida High School Shooting: Armed Officer Did 'Nothing'

FORT LAUDERDALE, FL — While the lone gunman fired shot after shot into Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School last week, a Broward County deputy stood by doing "nothing," according to Sheriff Scott Israel. Scot Peterson abruptly retired on Thursday after being informed that he was being suspended without pay pending an internal investigation. Israel said that the school resource officer stood outside Building 12 for four of the six minutes the shooter unloaded his AR-15 assault rifle.

"Scot Peterson was absolutely on campus throughout this entire event," said Israel. "He was armed. He was in uniform. After seeing video, witness statements and Scot Peterson’s very own statement, I decided this morning to suspend Scott Peterson without pay pending an internal investigation."

Peterson should have "went in, address the killer, kill the killer," according to Israel.

"I think he got on his radio at a point in time and he took up a position," said Israel. "It looked like he could see the western most entry into the building."

Israel said he was "devastated, sick to my stomach," by the officer's actions during the horrific shooting in which 17 people were killed, many of them shot multiple times.

"There are no words. These families lost their children. We lost coaches," he said. "I’ve been to the vigils. It’s just there are no words."

Israel's announcement concerning his deputy came on the same day that Stoneman Douglas Coach Aaron Feis was laid to rest. The coach was killed as he bravely used his own body to shield students in Building 12.

Israel said that Peterson was in a school office dealing with a school-related issue involving a female student at the time the shooting broke out but that he arrived outside Building 12 within a minute-and-a-half.

"What I saw was a deputy arrive at the west side of Building 12, take up a position and he never went in," Israel said.

The sheriff said that he also placed two other deputies on "restrictive duty" in connection their actions related to two different calls involving accused shooter Nikolas Cruz or his brother. Israel said that his agency logged 23 such calls between 2008 and prior to the Valentine's Day shooting.

"Some of the calls we responded directly out," said Israel. "Some of these were made via phone call."

He said that both calls "deserve extra scrutiny and to be reviewed and investigated" with respect to possible protocol not being followed.

In an earlier press conference, Coral Springs Police Chief Tony Pustizzi said that the search for the shooter was hampered by a 20-minute delay in the school's surveillance video, which caused investigators to mistakenly believe the shooter was in one place after he had already moved on.

Broward County Schools Superintendent Robert Runcie clarified on Friday that the surveillance system had the capability of displaying either real-time video or video on a time delay. He said that the disconnect may result in additional training for local law enforcement agencies.

"It never put us in a situation where any kids' lives where in danger or any teachers' lives were in danger," said Pustizzi, whose community borders Parkland. "The issue was more of a communication failure on who was reviewing the tape, letting our guys know there was a 20-minute delay in what they were reviewing."

(AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee)