The state of Florida will conduct an official investigation of the law-enforcement response to the school shooting earlier this month at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland.
ABC News reported, citing the Florida Governor’s Office, that Gov. Rick Scott requested the move.
The probe will be performed by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. That agency’s commissioner, Rick Swearingen, met with Mr. Scott shortly before the governor announced the investigation, ABC News reported.
It came out last week that Scot Peterson, the armed school security officer provided by the Broward County Sheriff’s Office, did not try to engage the gunman as he killed 17 students and staff.
In addition, according to police from another department, three Broward sheriff’s deputies also waited behind the cars outside while the shooting spree was going on.
And suspect Nikolas Cruz had been the object of more than a dozen calls to law enforcement, including a tip to the FBI, on which the agency did not follow, that he was talking about shooting up his former school.
Mr. Scott has resisted both the most-strident of gun-control proposals and President Trump’s calls for more armed teachers in schools.
He submitted a proposal Friday to the Florida Legislature that includes such gun-control measures as raising the age on gun sales to 21 and banning the sale of “bump stocks” that enable semi-automatic weapons to fire like fully automatic ones. The proposal also included more funds for school security measures and mental-health services.
Broward County Sheriff Scott Israel, who has drawn considerable flack for his defenses of his deputies’ actions, said he welcomed the state’s probe.
“BSO will cooperate fully with FDLE, as we believe in full transparency and accountability. This independent, outside review will ensure public confidence in the findings,” he said.
• Victor Morton can be reached at vmorton@washingtontimes.com.
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