Report: Deputies Ordered To Form Perimeter, Not Confront Florida Gunman

March 2, 2018

PARKLAND, Fla. (CBS) – A sheriff’s office captain told deputies to form a perimeter instead of confronting the gunman at a Florida high school where 17 people were killed in a mass shooting, according to documents obtained by the Miami Herald. The newspaper reported late Thursday that it had obtained a partial Broward Sheriff’s Office dispatch log, which showed that Capt. Jan Jordan gave the order for deputies to establish a perimeter.

An earlier report on the call logs published by Fox News showed that the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School would have been over by the time Jordan gave her order. However, the log may raise fresh questions about the department’s handling of the mass shooting on Feb. 14, including whether police could have gone in sooner to help the wounded.

“If detectives had answers to all of the questions, then there would be no need for an investigation,” sheriff’s office spokeswoman Veda Coleman-Wright wrote in an email to the Herald late Thursday.

Sheriff Scott Israel has said his office’s training and nationwide active-shooter procedure call for armed law enforcement officers to confront shooters immediately rather than secure a scene. He has blasted Deputy Scot Peterson, the school’s resource officer, for not entering the school building while 19-year-old former student Nikolas Cruz was allegedly shooting.

Israel told CNN that Coral Springs Police were the first law enforcement officers to enter the building, about four minutes after Cruz left the school.

But the sheriff’s office is also facing backlash for apparently mishandling some of the 18 tipster calls related to the suspected shooter. The tips were among a series of what authorities now describe as missed warning signs that Cruz, who had a history of disturbing behavior, posed a threat. Israel has defended his leadership, and said investigators were looking into claims that three other deputies failed to enter the school.

Meanwhile, the sheriff’s office has not responded to requests for the logs from The Associated Press. The agency and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement are investigating the actions of officers responding to the shooting.