Judicial Watch: Training Documents Show Broward County Sheriff’s Office ‘Failed the Victims of the Parkland Shooting’

In a release issued on March 15, Judicial Watch reported that Broward County Operations documents direct deputies to confront an active shooter, which is what deputy Scot Peterson did not do when he arrived at building 12 of the Parkland high school.

Breitbart News reported that surveillance video from outside the school appears to show Peterson arrive outside building 12 and remain outside while Nikolas Cruz shot and kill students and teachers.

Broward County Sheriff Scott Israel was critical of Peteron’s refusal to go into the building. Naples Daily News quoted Israel saying the video “speaks for itself.”

Now Judicial Watch reports:

Judicial Watch notes that Broward County Sheriff’s Office training and operations docs explain that the reason for confronting the shooter is to save lives. The training and operations “lesson plan” instructs deputies to confront a shooter immediately because “history shows when a suspect is confronted by any armed individual… they either shoot it out with that person or kill themselves. Either way, the shooting of innocent bystanders must stop.”

On February 22, Israel confirmed to ABC 13 that Peterson did not enter the building and confront the shooter. He also informed media that Peterson decided to resign after the fact, rather than face suspension.

Judicial Watch’s report also showed that Broward County Sheriff Scott Israel “was also eligible for $2000 in supplemental pay for completing a 20-hr training course. In 2016, the Sheriff received a warning letter that he had not successfully completed the course & his supplemental pay was being withheld.” The letter did not distinguish if the training course involved preparation for active shooter situations.

“These Broward County Sheriff’s Office documents obtained by Judicial Watch show that the law enforcement agency failed the victims of the Parkland shooting,” Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton declared in a press release. “Lives were lost in Parkland because the Sheriff’s Office personnel were either poorly trained or failed to follow training protocols.”

AWR Hawkins is an award-winning Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News, the host of the Breitbart podcast Bullets with AWR Hawkins, and the writer/curator of Down Range with AWR Hawkins, a weekly newsletter focused on all things Second Amendment, also for Breitbart News. He is the political analyst for Armed American Radio. Follow him on Twitter: @AWRHawkins. Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com. Sign up to get Down Range at breitbart.com/downrange.