Broward Sheriff: Deputies To Carry Rifles On School Grounds
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PARKLAND (CBSMiami) – One week after the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School massacre, Broward County Sheriff Scott Israel has ordered all deputies in schools to carry rifles on school grounds.
"This morning, I implemented a practice within the Broward Sheriff's Office and spoke to Mr. Runcie and he's fully cooperative of my decision, that our deputies who are qualified and trained will be carrying rifles on school grounds from this point forward," announced Sheriff Israel at a late afternoon news conference. "The only place, people are asking me, where they will not carry their rifle, until we look for gun locks and gun lockers, they only place where they're not slinging their rifles, they will be allowed to be stored is locked in their police vehicle. So it will be done safely. Only deputies who are trained and qualified will carry those rifles. But we need to defeat any threat that comes onto campus."
When asked if officers will carry AR-15's, Israel said some would. But they are single shot rifles, not fully automatic.
— Broward Sheriff (@browardsheriff) February 21, 2018
When asked about the motive behind the shooting, Israel replied, "Pure evil, pure evil."
He also spoke about Marjory Stoneman Douglas' School Resource Deputy on the day of the shooting.
"Deputy Peterson was on campus. As you all know, he's the School Resource Deputy. He was armed. As our command staff moves forward in this investigation the response and actions of Deputy Peterson will be looked at and scrutinized as will everyone."
Sheriff Israel added, "I think schools, as soft targets need to fortified. We need to look at how many school resource deputies are being employed at each school." He added, "We also need to talk about sensible gun control."