County Sheriff Scott Israel was going to fire deputy Scott Peterson not in picture.
The school resource deputy at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School has resigned following the school massacre, Broward County Sheriff Scott Israel confirmed.
In a press conference Thursday, Israel said the armed deputy, Scott Peterson, was on campus during the shooting but failed to go inside to engage the accused shooter, Nikolas Cruz.
The decision to suspend Peterson was made after witness statements, video and Peterson’s own statement, Israel said.
“What I saw was a deputy arrive at the west side of Building 12, take a position and he never went in,” Israel added.
Instead of facing the suspension, Peterson decided to resign/retire.
Cruz is accused of killing 17 people in the nation’s deadliest school shooting since a gunman attacked an elementary school in Newtown, Connecticut.
As details about the Florida school shooting emerge, more and more questions surface as to why and how 19-year-old Nikolas Cruz carried out the deadly massacre that killed 17 people.
Cruz and his brother Zachary were orphaned in November when their adoptive mother, Lynda Cruz, died of flu complications. Their father, Roger Cruz, died in 2005 of a heart attack.
Neighbors say that Zachary was quiet, while Nikolas frequently got into trouble and enjoyed hurting animals. One relative claims he has autism. He was also reportedly showing signs of depression and had been in counseling, but he hadn’t shown up for treatment in over a year.
Since 2010, Broward Sheriff’s deputies were called to the family residence 39 times. The reasons ranged from “mentally ill person” to “child/elderly abuse.” Many of the incidents are unaccompanied by written reports, so it is unclear who was the focus of many of these disturbances and what the specific details were.
Cruz reportedly arrived to the scene of the massacre in a gold Uber car, carrying a black bag and wearing a black hat. One staffer radioed another to alert him that Cruz was “walking purposefully” towards the school, but by then, it was too late.
Cruz, then, was said to have opened fire — killing 17 and wounding 15 others. He then reportedly ditched his vest and AR-15 rifle to blend in with the terrified, fleeing crowd. (Though Cruz was expelled from the school for getting into a fight and bringing knives on campus, he was wearing a Stoneman Douglas High maroon T-shirt, perhaps to better look inconspicuous.) He was apprehended a little over an hour later at a Walmart in nearby Coral Springs, where he bought a drink from the Subway inside.
When did mass shootings become a normal part of American life? There’s an entire generation growing up in fear that their school will be next. My thoughts are with families of victims & first responders in FL, but I also know that thoughts are not enough. It’s time for action.
BREAKING: At least 15 people are dead following shooting at Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, law enforcement officers on the scene tell @ABC News. http://abcn.ws/2GaFaYf
NEW: Parkland, Florida, high school shooting suspect appeared “to have pulled the school fire alarm causing chaos and then began shooting,” law enforcement source briefed on shooting tells CBS News http://cbsn.ws/2sxJGOs
Police respond to report of shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High in Florida
Authorities are investigating an incident at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Florida
He’s been a troubled kid and has always had a certain amount of issues going on. He shot guns because he felt it gave him I guess — what’s the word I’m looking for — an exhilarating feeling… He showed me [his guns] personally through his phone and stuff like that I stayed clear of him most of the time during my time in alternate school I didn’t wanna be with him at all because I didn’t wanna cause any conflict with him because that’s the impression he gave off.
5:05 p.m.:
Broward County Sheriff Scott Israel says the suspected shooter is was arrested without incident. They are still not sure if all the kids are out.
The Miami Heraldreports on the identity of the suspected shooter:
The former student suspected of opening fire at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland may been identified a potential threat to fellow students in the past, according to one teacher.
The 19-year-old ex-student, who has been detained by Broward police, has not been publicly identified as a suspect. But a law-enforcement source identified him as Nicolas Cruz.
…
“We were told last year that he wasn’t allowed on campus with a backpack on him,” said math teacher Jim Gard, who said Cruz had been in his class last year. “There were problems with him last year threatening students, and I guess he was asked to leave campus.”
Parents of students, please go to the Marriott Heron Bay located at 11775 Heron Bay Blvd in Coral Springs. Please wait to go to the staging area until everything is clear. @browardsheriff#StonemanDouglasHighSchool#Parkland
Brother of student in Florida school: “She was trembling. She was just in complete denial and complete shock, she couldn’t even — she was numb. The way to describe it, the messages her voice gave off, was that this isn’t reality.” http://nbcnews.to/2EsYjs3
Police apprehend suspect in shooting at Florida high school, report several fatalities http://on.wsj.com/2ErWNpV
Florida Police Respond to Report of Active Shooter at High School
A shooting at a Florida high school Wednesday sent students rushing out into the streets as police swarmed in and locked down the building. Ambulances converged on the scene as emergency workers…
“It’s a day that you pray, every day I get up, that we will never have to see.” Broward County Public Schools Superintendent Robert Runcie calls for the community to come together after a shooting at a high school in Parkland, FL. http://cnn.it/2CkB0Lc
School official says there are “numerous fatalities” after high school shooting in Parkland, Fla.; sheriff says “at least 14 victims”, their condition unclear. http://apne.ws/mXM7jsi
The Latest: Official: ‘Numerous fatalities’ in school attack
PARKLAND, Fla. (AP) — The Latest on a shooting at a Florida high school (all times local): 4:25 p.m. A school official says there are numerous fataliti
CNN reports that law enforcement sources say at least two were killed in the school shooting. Sources also report that the suspect is believed to be a student at the school.
4:28 p.m.:
Members of the establishment media are already earning the low opinion the public has of them:
JUST IN (warning, disturbing video): Cell phone video inside the school as shots were going off at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High http://cbsn.ws/2ErNC8Z
MORE: Male in red shirt appears to be handcuffed and apprehended by police officers in Parkland, Florida, following shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School http://cbsn.ws/2sxJGOs
My prayers and condolences to the families of the victims of the terrible Florida shooting. No child, teacher or anyone else should ever feel unsafe in an American school.
#BSO is working a developing incident regarding a report of active shooter located at 5901 Pine Island Rd, Parkland. Here’s what we know so far: deputies are responding to reports of a shooting at Stoneman Douglas High. There are reports of victims. PIO will be on scene 3:15pm.
WSVN reports “at least 20 people have been injured.”
During live broadcast, Fox News reported that police have ascertained “a person of interest” in the incident. That person is a student who was in class earlier today and is now “on the run.”
Richland County deputies are investigating an incident where one person was shot and later died.
Deputies say they were called to the McDonald’s located at 7011 Parklane Road around 4 a.m. following an argument that led to a person being shot outside in the restaurant’s parking lot.
The victim, identified as James K. Copeland III, 30, of Cumming, GA, was taken to Palmetto Health Richland in critical condition but later died.
Detectives say Sultan Battle was the man who shot Copeland, but the sheriff’s department and the 5th Circuit Solicitor’s Office ruled the incident a justifiable homicide.
Battle has been charged with kidnapping and armed robbery for the moments leading up to the shooting. Detectives say Battle met a woman at the Quality Inn at 8140 Two Notch Road with the intent to have sex with and rob her. Battle stole cash and a cell phone from the victim and ran away.
The victim called an acquaintance and they tracked the phone down to the McDonald’s on Parklane Road. The victim’s friend demanded the stolen items back from Sultan and pulled a gun on him. Sultan pointed a gun at him in return and shot him.
Battle is booked to the Alvin S. Glenn Detention Center where he will await a bond hearing.
