The Broward County Sheriff’s Office is investigating media reports that three more of its deputies remained outside a South Florida high school after a gunman opened fire on the campus last week.
“If there is no wrongdoing in the part of our deputies, we’ll move on,” Broward County Sheriff Scott Israel told ABC News. “If there is wrongdoing on the part of our deputies, we’ll handle it accordingly as I have for five years as sheriff.”
{mosads}
Israel’s comments came after CNN and the Sun-Sentinel reported Friday that three sheriff’s deputies had not entered Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., when Coral Springs police officers arrived on the scene.
That followed the revelation that the school’s armed resource officer, Broward County Sheriff’s Deputy Scot Peterson, had also remained outside the school when the shooting took place. He later resigned.
The attack left 17 people dead and more than a dozen others wounded. The suspected gunman, 19-year-old Nikolas Cruz, has been charged with 17 counts of premeditated murder.
CNN reported that some Coral Springs officers responding to the shooting were upset that Broward County Sheriff’s deputies had not immediately entered the building where the shooting had taken place.
Coral Springs City Manager Mike Goodrum reportedly confronted Israel about the situation at a vigil for shooting victims last week.
Goodrum acknowledged to CNN that he and Israel shared a “heated moment,” but said that their offices have a “good working relationship.”
“There were countless deputies and officers who responded on that fateful day from multiple jurisdictions, whose actions were nothing short of heroic,” the Coral Springs Police Department said in a statement on Friday.
“As already reported, any actions or inactions that negatively affected the response will be investigated thoroughly,” it added.