FORT LAUDERDALE, FL — Broward County Sheriff Gregory Tony has ordered the firing of two more of his deputies based on the conclusions of an internal affairs investigation into his agency’s handling of the horrific Parkland school shooting on Valentine’s Day 2018. The announcement brings to four the total number of deputies who have lost their jobs over one of the worst school shootings in U.S. history.
“One of the things that we were able to examine and look at as a command staff was the performance aspects of the deputies that were out there that day,” Tony said in announcing the firings during a Wednesday morning news conference. “Seven deputies were the subjects of the internal affairs investigation at my request. Our findings, as this investigation is now concluded, included the termination of two employees yesterday.”
Tony, who was appointed by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis after the governor suspended former Sheriff Scott Israel primarily over his handling of the Parkland massacre, announced the firing of former Deputy Scot Peterson earlier this month. Peterson is also facing criminal charges in connection with the massacre.
“After we take that totality of facts, it became clear to me and my command staff that this was neglect of duty,” said Tony. “One of the most severe consequences is we lost 17 people.”
Peterson, who abruptly retired following the school shooting, is accused of waiting outside Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School as a lone gunman shot student after student with an AR-15 assault rifle.
There were 14 students and three staff members killed at the school.
Peterson and Sgt. Brian Miller were both fired on June 4. In addition to those two, Tony announced the firing of Deputy Edward Eason and Deputy Joshus Stanbaugh effective Wednesday.
Tony said he was not taking disciplinary action against three other deputies who were also the subject of the internal investigation. They include Detective Brian Goolsby and Deputies Michael Kratz and Arthur Perry. Those three will not face any disciplinary action and will return to duty.
“As we conclude this final chapter for this organization in terms of this internal affairs investigation, we are now going to continue to move forward with fixing the issues that exist here in the agency as related to training,” said Tony. “We are ahead of the curve in that. We are excelling and we are just getting started.”
Tony said no action would be taken against a captain and lieutenant who were also on duty that day but who have since retired from the agency.
“They were part of our examination process,” Tony explained. “We didn’t find the grounds to pull those cases up. When we looked at the administrative side of it, and the actions that they took as a collective group in our command staff, there was not going to be something that we were going to be able to reach back into and try to examine what disciplinary actions we were going to be able to hold with them. That was just a command staff decision.”
The affidavit filed in support of the warrant for Peterson’s arrest stated that the gunman fired his Smith and Wesson M&P-15 rifle 140 times during the massacre, including “approximately 75 times between the time Deputy Peterson arrived at the southeast end of the 1200 building, moved to his position of cover, and the time when he … stopped shooting.”
The shootings took place between 2:21 p.m. when the gunman entered the building and 2:28 p.m. when the gunman left, the document said.
The affidavit placed Peterson on the radio with a fellow deputy at 2:24:24. At that time, Peterson allegedly said, “We don’t have any description yet, we just hear shots, appears to be shots fired,” which appears to establish Peterson knew there was a gunman in the school for several minutes before the rampage ended.
Former Sgt. Miller was a road patrol supervisor who heard a volley of gunfire but chose not to enter Building 12 where the shooting took place, according to investigators. Moreover, he did not direct other deputies to enter the building and did not attempt to locate the shooter or investigate the source of the gunshots.
Eason and Stambaugh were deemed to have heard several of the gunshots but also failed to enter the school and confront the shooter or investigate the source of the gunshots.
In January, the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Public Safety Commission unanimously approved a 446-page report on the school shooting that concluded Peterson was “derelict in his duty” by not confronting the school shooter.
Video shows Peterson drawing his gun and taking cover outside the building. The report also was critical of other deputies who failed to enter the building during the shooting, but praised officers from the Coral Springs Police Department who quickly ran inside.
In an earlier statement through Fort Lauderdale Attorney Joseph A. DiRuzzo, III, Peterson maintained that his actions were “appropriate under the circumstances.”
“Let there be no mistake, Mr. Peterson wishes that he could have prevented the untimely passing of the 17 victims on that day, and his heart goes out to the families of the victims in their time of need. However, the allegations that Mr. Peterson was a coward and that his performance, under the circumstances, failed to meet the standards of police officers are patently untrue,” according to a statement released by DiRuzzo.
President Donald Trump called out Peterson by name in the aftermath of the shooting, referring to him as a “coward” or someone who “didn’t react properly under pressure.”
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