New documents released by the Coral Springs Police Department say several Broward County deputies called to help in Florida's deadliest school shooting were standing on the sidelines.
The reports released Tuesday state that Broward County deputies were seen ducking behind cars and using trees for cover.
Coral Springs officers detail what appears to be mass chaos. The police officers state while they were trying to find the shooter and victims, several Broward County deputies were hiding.
One Coral Springs police officer’s report says while he was running into the school he passed a deputy who claimed to know where the shooter was.
“I was advised by an unknown BSO Deputy taking cover behind a tree, 'he is on the third floor,'" said Coral Springs Officer Bryan Wilkins.
Another Coral Springs Officer, Sgt. Nick Mazzei, says he rushed passed Broward deputies taking positions “outside the school’ as he was running in.
Broward County deputies got to the scene faster than Coral Springs police officers, but the newly released reports make it seem as though they didn’t react quickly enough or were hesitant to react.
In another part of his report, Wilkins writes he saw four Broward County sheriff's deputies parked on the road outside the school.
He said they were “taking up exterior positions behind their vehicles … I drove up just west of the campus building 1200, exited my vehicle, grabbed my AR-15 rifle and donned on my tactical/medical gear."
The Broward County Sheriff’s Office has been criticized because surveillance video shows the school resource officer, Scot Peterson, hiding outside the school as the shooting was taking place. While we know he called for help, deputies didn’t enter the building until five minutes after the shooting ended.
The sheriff’s office admits deputies did not know where the shooter was, but some of them may have been waiting for SWAT officers before going in.
Margate police officer Chad Ryen wrote that when he arrived, "I informed the deputy that I was a SRT/SWAT operator and there was no time to wait … Based on my training and experience, I made the determination to make entry into the school,"
The Broward County Sheriff’s Office could not confirm the reports from Coral Springs that other deputies waited.
Seventeen students died that day.
