PARKLAND, FLA. (WSVN) - In the wake of a shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School that left 17 people dead and 14 injured, the Borward County Sheriff’s Office is facing backlash.
In an email sent by the agency, all staff has been urged to support Sheriff Scott Israel in the wake of the received backlash.
The email reads in part, “At the moment, we find our agency up against a flurry of media allegations and a personal attack against our Sheriff. [Sheriff Israel] stood with us, now we must stand with him.”
To read the full email BSO sent out, click here.
Meanwhile, CNN said they’ve obtained records showing that BSO received at least 45 calls for service relating to accused school shooter Nikolas Cruz or his brother from 2008 to 2017.
However, BSO reported that they received 23 calls, 18 of which involved Cruz.
In the interest of full transparency, we are making available the list of all 23 calls for service at the Cruz home. 18 involved Nikolas Cruz. None appeared arrestable under Florida law. However, two of the calls remain under internal investigation. https://t.co/JJANWVeo9q
— Broward Sheriff (@browardsheriff) February 23, 2018
Joelle Guarino is a former neighbor of Cruz who called police on him. She spoke to CNN, where she voiced how she believed the deputy listened when she called, but he wasn’t able to do much.
“I think he listened, but I felt at the time that he couldn’t do anything because what he explained, it was not an immediate threat and he was only 17 at the time and didn’t own a gun,” Guarino said.
This comes as Israel announced that Scot Peterson, the school resource officer for Stoneman Douglas, never went inside the building during the shooting.
However, Peterson spoke through his lawyer and said he initially received a call of firecrackers instead of gunfire and, when he responded, he heard the gunfire but believed that it was coming from outside.
Peterson was suspended without pay but has since resigned and retired.
Sheriff Israel has since received both support and criticism for his leadership, and some are even calling for his resignation.
“I hope there are investigations and if in fact the sheriff knew more than what has come to be, then he’s going to have to take responsibility for that and resign,” said Fred Guttenberg, the father of victim Jaimie Guttenberg.
However, Governor Rick Scott is waiting for all the details before he decides his course of action. “The first thing you do is you do a thorough, transparent investigation, and that’s what I’m doing,” he said. “I want all the facts to come out, and then everybody needs to be held accountable.”
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