Agreed. He should have gotten in the fight. This much seems pretty clear to me, but again; I wasn't there, don't know what he was thinking or seeing and this is all conjecture on my part. But still, this one is disquieting to say the least.

I'm also curious about the level of training he received once he moved into the SRO position. He's a sworn LEO, of course, but I have a cousin-in-law who is a Detroit Public Schools police officer (they have them here, mainly because they really, really need them) -- which is different from a school resources officer (though both are sworn LEOs). He says they're only required to attend two range training sessions annually with their service weapon (with one of those being an annual requal on a standard pistol course). He and several of his officers (he's a supervising sergeant now), though, go on their own more often, and also pay to attend regular shoot house training and other tactical training events offered by various ranges and instructors.

He says that many SROs, once they've spent time on the job, tend to let the law enforcement duties side of the house slide in favor of interacting more with the "kids." Apparently, in Broward, there was also a program that sought to decrease the number of law enforcement interactions students had, in an attempt to end what's being called the "school to prison pipeline." That may be why this shooter flew under the radar, so to speak, because there seems to be evidence that the SRO had knowledge of several incidents on school property in which the shooter was previously involved but didn't elevate them to official law enforcement actions for fear of saddling the shooter with a criminal record.

I concede, though, as several others have pointed out; this is a lot of armchair quarterbacking. But if we don't do a "lessons learned" on this tragedy, and take steps to fix the manifest issues with the system that have been revealed so far, we're likely to just see it repeated again.

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"Politics is just show business for ugly people."

He was certainly outgunned but he did have several things in his favor:

• He's better trained than the kid
• He has the element of surprise as he pretty much knew where the kid was but the kid wouldn't know where he was
• He probably knew the layout of the school better, even though the kid was a former student\\\\\\

Since we are Monday morning quarterbacking this thing, I'm going to do a counter point to your assertations here.


First off he doesn't know it is a kid, an adult, one shooter, two shooters, or whatever. All he really knew at the time is that someone was shooting very rapidly with a serious combat weapon. He didn't know where the shooter was, just a general area. I can only imagine how many different rooms and hallways were in that building, it was not like it was someone out in the open and you could see them.


And him knowing the layout better or worse than the shooter, dont think that was going through his mind at all at that critical moment. Of course he knows it, and that goes back to my comment on how easy it would be to get lost in that maze of rooms, closets, hallways, and all the other cubby holes in a school building. And of course he was scared shitless, so whatever training he had from the old days was melted away from fear, pretty common thing to happen really with guys like this.


Like I said, really wish the guy would have kept advancing and didn't panic and then panic the first wave of others. But there is a distinct difference from SWAT teams and regular cops, especially cops that are put out to pasture at some school to serve out their days in a relatively quiet environment. I wonder if anyone has gone back to see how and why he got this assignment in the first place, and held it for so long too. That would not be a usual thing in the departments I know of, that would be a shit job or punishment for some incompetence.

Why all the excuse-making from several here (not necessarily you) for this gentleman?

I understand it's natural for us to not want to throw stones at this deputy/SRO -- and there's no doubt some armchair quarterbacking from some of us, including me -- but it seems pretty clear he failed in the only duty that was vital for him to fulfill. Now, none of us knows if we'd have done anything differently (even though some here have been in live fire situations, so we can draw some inferences from that, based on past performance under fire) and I freely admit that. But that really doesn't matter. He was being paid to do a job, one he'd sworn to do and took an oath to do (and that means something to us military folks). And he failed, miserably, at it. He bears no small amount of personal responsibility, in other words.

The more cynical side of me could only conclude that some are trying to keep the focus on the effort to ban AR-type "assault weapons," and that any attention diverted away from that -- such as discussing the deputy's manifest failure in regards to the tragedy, as well as the multitude of failed opportunities to deal with this shooter prior to his evil doings -- must be prevented from gaining any traction.

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"Politics is just show business for ugly people."

The story of this tragedy just gets better and better (or more and more tragic) with each passing day and new revelation:

Shooter revealed gory fantasies to his therapists years before the Parkland massacre

"A May 3, 2014, notation in a Broward County schools psychiatric file said Cruz “reported [a dream] last week of him killing people and covered in blood. He smiled and told the therapist that sometimes he says things for shock value.”

After Cruz’s disclosure to his therapist at the alternative Cross Creek School, administrators developed a “safety plan” to ensure the welfare of Cruz and others while the teen was on summer vacation. The plan included provisions for removing “all sharp objects from the home” and encouraging the youth to “verbalize what the problem is.”

If talking about “the problem” was seen as a solution to Cruz’s volatile behavior — and, in the short term, it may have been — it did not last. Portions of his psychiatric file, obtained by the Miami Herald on Friday, show a young man whose mental health exhibited frequent and extreme swings. His attitude would brighten for weeks at a time, then descend again into paranoia and anger."


Dozens of visits to his home by sheriff's deputies, many documented instances of violence and/or communicating threats while he was a student... and yet no one did anything to prevent him from purchasing firearms, which appears to be something they not only could have done but should have done back when he was at least 18 and committing acts that got him expelled from Parkland High School.

And from what I've been reading, some of these events and acts were forwarded or relayed directly to the SRO, Scot Peterson, who apparently did nothing about them, perhaps out of a misguided wish (or a directive, even) to keep the shooter off the so-called "schools to prison" path. How did that work out for everyone?

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"Politics is just show business for ugly people."

I don't think so. I consider this issue to be somewhat ideologically neutral. This guy's failure, and the general lack of resounding success of armed, trained campus LEOs (e.g. Columbine) is also not convenient either to the notion that prospective mass shooters will shy away from campuses with clearly advertised immediate armed response, or that a good-guy-with-gun is any kind of a sure bet.

I think it's not talked about as much because it's pretty easy to figure out. He was a coward. Next. You can't legislate LEO courage. Like you said, you don't even know about how trained people will respond until angry lead starts flying.

Nobody is making excuses. Some of us are offering possible explanations for what happened because it's irresponsible to armchair quarterback when we have basically no actual information. Why are you so determined and quick to shit on this gentleman? Maybe that's the question you should ask yourself.

Yes, he was being paid to do a job. Do you know what that job was? Do you know whether or not the job description of an SRO in the Broward County Sheriff's office included advancing on an armed shooter? Do you know what training he received? Do you know what tactics or pre-planned responses he was given by his organization to implement in this type of case?

The answers to those questions is, of course, "No." You keep saying "sworn law enforcement officer" as if every law enforcement officer has the same duties and expectations. A meter maid is a sworn law enforcement officer. A SWAT officer is a sworn law enforcement officer. A School Resources Officer, a chief of police, an FBI special agent, etc are all sworn law enforcement officers.

It may turn out that he was properly trained, knew his responsibilities, was actually expected to advance on the shooter, and actually fucked up. But right now, we just don't have the facts to support a definitive conclusion, and given the fact that the sheriff's office in general seems like a bit of a shit show, it wouldn't surprise me to find out that this guy is being scapegoated to some extent or another.

Maybe instead of asking why others are making excuses, you should ask why you're so hell bent on crapping on this guy, to the point where you suggested he should commit suicide.

The issue seems to be with you, not the rest of us.

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Slowguy

(insert pithy phrase here...)

This guy screwed up- but I feel at this point he is being used to detract from a department that clearly did not train him or others properly nor use intelligence correctly. The more we argue about him the less focus on the Sheriff.

Does anyone think this Sheriff should still have a job?

I'm an 18 year cop (homicide/sex crimes detective currently) with a lot of tactical training and an "active" shooter response under my belt (not a school ... gang/drug related shooting outside of a packed bar at closing time ... so somewhat different). The SRO was a failure. His job in this instance was to engage the shooter and end the threat as quickly as possible. He failed. He has to I've with that, but I'm not sure that's going to be an issue for this guy (that's me extrapolating *who* he may be and judging him harshly).

I could not live with myself had I not done everything in my power to engage the shooter and kill him as quickly as possible. Pistol vs AR? Yeah, you're outgunned. But the gun is the tool, your mind and training are the weapon. I don't want to get shot but I'm at peace with that possibility.

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*****
"In case of flood climb to safety"

That much is hard to argue. Several minutes went by in which he could have found the right course of action, but he froze, and stayed frozen. It was the wrong choice.

There's a strong likelihood of him entering the school, and encountering the shooter with a background of terrified students. It's pretty easy to see how he'd convince himself that he'd not only be going on a suicide mission, but that he might kill more innocents in trying to take out the shooter before he died.

That was a real possibility. There were no good options for him, but it doesn't excuse him choosing the worst.

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The devil made me do it the first time, second time I done it on my own - W

I don't think he froze. Nor do I think he "panicked" as Kahuna's link indicates. If you listen to the tapes, he was fairly clearly directing response to the buildings where he thought the threat was coming from, giving street names, building numbers, and directing where he thought responding forces should go. Yeah, he sounded excited, but not frozen or panicked.

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Slowguy

(insert pithy phrase here...)

God knows what was running through the deputy/SRO's mind. I've already said it, but thank G-d I didn't have to face what he bumped up against that day. I've apologized previously for my intemperate remarks about this deputy and my intimations that maybe the honorable way out for him was to eat his gun. Those words were wrong and I admit it. But I don't think I'm wrong here in my initial characterization of him in my OP on this thread, what with these new revelations.

Same as any troop out in the field and in a firefight or about to engage the enemy, this deputy needed to get in the fight and service the target or targets. Active shooter doctrine, including the doctrine apparently established by the BSO (his department), called for him to do so, in fact. That's what he swore to do, I feel, which is why I'm being harsh on him.

Lastly, I'll say it one more time: Thank G-d I wasn't in the deputy's/SRO's shoes that day, and law enforcement officers have a gargantuan burden they gladly carry on behalf of all of us. I can't imagine how he's managing to deal with the weight of his actions during the shooting. It must be a living hell.

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"Politics is just show business for ugly people."

I agree with you, after considering everything. I think what that SRO was handed was a huge sh*t sandwich that he knew he was going to have to eat, and he simply couldn't make himself do it. It's a damn shame and a tragedy but it is what it is. Maybe it was lack of (recent) training or a failure of the will or whatever. I'd like to think any one of us here would have reacted differently, all things being equal, but I simply can't say that with 100-percent certainty. Like you say: maximum rounds being sent your way and downrange has a way of focusing your thoughts wonderfully. So that's definitely a point in the deputy's/SRO's favor.

That shouldn't prevent or preclude any of us, though, from judging or criticizing this gentleman's actions, given what we now know about how he carried out his duties during the shooting. I know I sound like a broken record, but you have to get in the fight, even though you don't want to, and engage the shooter. You'll be afraid (and if you're not, there's something wrong with you and you shouldn't have a weapon), of course, but you'll do your duty in the end.

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"Politics is just show business for ugly people."

I don't think school districts and municipalities want to spend the money for even a single officer or SRO, let alone a pair of them. Just today, the New York Police Department pulled their last cop from the city's schools, in fact:

Parents up in arms after NYPD removes cops from schools

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"Politics is just show business for ugly people."

Boy, you're sure right on that point.

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"Politics is just show business for ugly people."

I heard the tapes. I don't mean physically froze, unable to move one foot forward like the soldier in the stairwell in Saving Private Ryan. I mean froze in the sense of not being able to compel himself to the proper action. He retreated to the position of Incident Command rather than threat neutralizer, which, I think it's safe to say, should have been his primary objective.

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The devil made me do it the first time, second time I done it on my own - W

Maybe. I'm not sure. That would assume that he knew what he was supposed to do and couldn't bring himself to do it out of fear. It sounded to me like he thought he was doing exactly what he was supposed to do.

I'm not defending his choice to remain outside, but he wasn't the only one who did. If I remember correctly, two other Broward County officers did the same. It may be that they thought that was what they were supposed to do, based on whatever training they had previously received. That's not freezing, in my opinion.

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Slowguy

(insert pithy phrase here...)

Well in the context of this thread, sometimes it's still wasting money.

That's being awfully generous. I don't work in an environment that would be targeted for mass shooting, and it's not my job to address that scenario in the off chance it should happen, but I've thought about it dozens of times over the years, about how I would respond, in any given scenario or location it would happen. I cannot imagine an armed officer--the only one assigned to the facility--wouldn't have preplanned this, and I cannot imagine his plan consisted of staging in a safe location and holding other responding officers at the perimeter while children were being slaughtered. There is no scenario in which I can envision this being part of his plan, his training, or his department policy.

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The devil made me do it the first time, second time I done it on my own - W