CORAL SPRINGS, Fla. \u2014 The Broward County sheriff on Wednesday defended his office\u2019s response to one of the deadliest school shootings in American history amid questions over whether some of his deputies hung back instead of pursuing the gunman accused of killing 17 people.<\/p>\n
Sheriff Scott Israel said that, to his knowledge, deputies followed protocol and did not wait for specialized teams to arrive before going into Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla. But he said that details over the office\u2019s response remained unclear.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s exactly what we\u2019re examining,\u201d Sheriff Israel said, noting that active shooter protocols require confronting suspects as quickly as possible. \u201cYou don\u2019t wait for SWAT, you get in, and you push toward the shooter.\u201d<\/p>\n
The sheriff\u2019s response comes a week after Nikolas Cruz was accused of opening fire at his former school with a semiautomatic AR-15 rifle and as parents, students and school administrators continue to struggle to make sense of what happened.<\/p>\n
After the attack, Mr. Cruz slipped away on foot seven minutes after the gunfire began and was ultimately stopped by an officer from a neighboring police department.<\/p>\n