ATLANTIC BEACH, Fla. (WSVN) — A police chief in north Florida is getting praise on social media after calling on officers to quit if they weren’t willing to run toward gunfire.
Atlantic Beach Police Chief Michelle Cook posted the comment on Twitter after Broward Sheriff Scott Israel’s press conference where he revealed the School Resource Deputy at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School “never went in” to the building where a gunman killed 17 students and teachers on Feb. 14.
If you are a police officer and you think to yourself for even one second that you will not be able to run towards the gunfire…please quit now. We won't be mad. Innocent lives depend on us to act #dontletthemdown
— Michelle Cook (@Wunulub) February 23, 2018
“If you are a police officer and you think to yourself for even one second that you will not be able to run towards the gunfire… please quit now,” Cook wrote.
Cook’s tweet noted that she wouldn’t be mad if one of her officers decided to quit the force since “innocent lives depend on us to act.”
Her post prompted a flurry of praise on Twitter from current and former law enforcement officers, and had thousands of likes and retweets.
In response to a comment saying no one person can stop an AR-15, Cook wrote, “He can at least engage the bad guy and give innocent people a chance to escape. The best practice active shooter response being taught now is make entry asap.”
On her Twitter profile, Cook notes that, in addition to being the police chief, she is also an active shooter incident management trainer.
Former BSO deputy and Stoneman Douglas School Resource Officer Scot Peterson released a statement through his attorney on Monday, claiming he was no coward and “acted appropriately” during the shooting.
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