Broward County sheriff’s deputies have started carrying AR-15s on school grounds following the school shooting in Parkland last week, the sheriff said.
“Schools as soft targets need to be fortified,” Broward Sheriff Scott Israel said during a news conference late Wednesday.
“When they are not carrying the rifle, until we look for gun locks and gun lockers, the only place when they’re not slinging the rifle, that will be allowed to be stored, will be in their locked police vehicle,” said Israel.
Several police departments have asked the district to allow that for years, according to Margate Police Chief Dana Watson.
“If the car is in the parking lot, it might not be as accessible,” he said. “The police car can be a half-mile away. You have to run past the shooter to get your rifle?”
“Officers cannot compete with assault rifles with their regular duty handguns,” Pustizzi said. “We have to go in and combat militaristic tactics and weapons. ... It looks bad: Can you imagine someone videotaping an officer running away from the school?”
Nikolas Cruz has confessed to shooting at teachers and students on Feb. 14 at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, leaving 17 people dead and a number of others wounded.
Cruz was charged with 17 counts of premeditated murder the next day.
The high school had one armed resource officer inside at the time of the shooting but the officer never faced the shooter.
Israel said the actions of the officer on that day are part of the investigation into the shooting.
The FBI was warned multiple times about Cruz but didn’t respond before the shooting.
Cruz made threats online on multiple social media websites, prompting people to report him. However, the FBI said that it could not identify Cruz despite him using his given name as his screen name on all of the sites.
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