Florida School Shooting: Calls To Fire Sheriff

FORT LAUDERDALE, FL — Citing the "gross incompetence"of the Broward Sheriff's Department, Florida State Rep. Bill Hager on Saturday demanded that Gov. Rick Scott fire Broward Sheriff Scott Israel over his handling of the Parkland School shooting. Israel fired back with a letter to the state's chief executive, saying Hager acted recklessly. He described Hager's request to the governor as "riddled with factual errors, unsupported gossip and falsehoods."

Hager, who chairs the Justice Appropriations Subcommittee of the Florida House, accused former Broward Deputy Scot Peterson and three other Broward deputies with taking cover during the six-minute murderous rampage on Valentine's Day in which 17 were gunned down and 16 others injured. Peterson was the school resource officer, who was called out by Israel for failing to enter the school during the attack and "kill the killer." He abruptly retired on Thursday when informed of the investigation into his actions.

"This statement is patently false. Only one law enforcement officer was ever on the campus — at any time — during the attack: Deputy Scot Peterson," Israel responded. "Deputy Peterson immediately resigned Thursday after he was placed on unpaid suspension (pending likely termination) after our initial investigation showed he was present outside the 1200 Building but did not enter for at least four minutes."

Appearing on CNN on Sunday, Israel insisted that he has exercised "amazing leadership" with the agency and has no plans to step down.

Questions over the sheriff's handling of the massacre come as grieving families complete a week of funerals and as Stoneman Douglas students prepare to return to their classrooms for the first time on Wednesday.

Florida's Republican House Speaker also released a letter signed by himself and 73 other Republicans in the lower chamber asking that Israel be suspended for "incompetence and neglect of duty." The letter states that Israel and his agency ignored warning signs concerning accused shooter Nikolas Cruz, including reports that Cruz planned to "shoot up the school."

In response to the lawmakers' concerns, the governor ordered the Florida Department of Law Enforcement to conduct an independent investigation of the law enforcement response to the school shooting. The agency routinely investigates police-involved shootings in a number of Florida agencies, including the Miami-Dade County Police Department.

"BSO will fully cooperate with FDLE, as we believe in full transparency and accountability," Israel said on Sunday. "This independent, outside review will ensure public confidence in the findings."

As one of the only lawmen in the country who have had direct experience handling two mass shootings over the past year 13 months, Israel has been outspoken in recent days about the need for "sensible gun control," which may have put him at odds with some Republican lawmakers in the state. He is also an elected official.

Hager cited media reports that said there were 23 calls to the Broward Sheriff’s Office relating to the accused school gunman at his home, as well as 39 visits by Broward Sheriff Deputies.

Israel said the Delray Beach Republican had his numbers all wrong.

"BSO had a total of 23 calls for service involving Cruz or his family" from 2008 up until the time of the Valentine's Day shooting, according to Israel. The sheriff said that 18 of those calls involved Nikolas Cruz directly and the remaining five calls related to Cruz' brother.

"Of the 18, nearly all but two involved routine calls from the mother relating to parenting issues" like her sons were fighting or banging pool equipment against the house, Israel insisted. He said that none of the calls amounted to arrestable offenses but that two cases remain under review.

"Of the two encounters that remain under review, it is worth noting that in a subsequent incident at school, the BSO [school resource officer] subsequently referred Nikolas to [the Florida Department of Children and Families] and Nikolas received mental health counseling," according to Israel.

In one call that is being reviewed, Israel said that the caller was told Cruz no longer lived in Broward County and that the caller should notify Palm Beach County authorities where Cruz was living at the time.

Israel also took issue with a claim by Hager that the Broward Sheriff's Office had undergone a separate review after a gunman fired indiscriminately into the baggage claim area of Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport on Jan. 6, 2017.

"It is patently obvious that Mr. Hager has zero comprehension of law enforcement," Israel told the governor. "After any major critical incident, all law enforcement agencies prepare self‐assessments (often styled as after action report, lessons learned report, etc.). This is so an agency can learn from how the incident was handled and be even better the next time. These are routine in all agencies."

Israel said he is "very proud of the incredible work" that his deputies and other agencies performed following the attack on Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.

"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," Israel said. "I would urge Rep. Hager to publicly apologize for helping to spreading this false gossip and misinformation."

Broward Sheriff Scott Israel (left) briefs reporters on the Parkland school shooting. Photo courtesy Broward Sheriff's Office.