A SECOND Parkland cop who was fired for his response to the 2018 massacre that left more than a dozen dead has been reinstated on a technicality, reports claim.
Broward Sheriff Deputy Josh Stambaugh was fired 13 days too late for his inaction during the mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Florida, an arbitrator ruled earlier this week.
A second sheriff’s deputy who was fired for fleeing the scene of the 2018 shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School has been reinstated[/caption]
An arbitrator reinstated the first officer, Brian Miller, after he was fired for his inaction at the massacre that left 17 people dead in Florida[/caption]
The disgraced deputy was fired last year for taking cover behind his truck and then driving away from the Parkland school as 17 people were fatally gunned down by Nikolas Cruz, according to the South Florida Sun-Sentinel.
Stambaugh was working an off-duty shift at another school when he decided to respond to reports of a shooting at the nearby Stoneman Douglas on February 14, according to a state investigation into the response.
After ducking behind his truck for five minutes, he jumped back into his car and fled the scene of the killing spree.
Miller, a Broward County sheriff’s deputy, was fired in June 2019 for waiting seven minutes to make a call after arriving at the scene in Parkland[/caption]
Nikolas Cruz, a former student at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, is awaiting trial for 17 count of murder and 17 counts of attempted murder[/caption]
17 people were killed in the February 14 shooting, and another 17 victims were injured[/caption]
The 19-year-old reportedly made threats online about the attack prior to the shooting[/caption]
The Parkland shooting happened during a time of increased public support for more stringent gun control laws[/caption]
With Monday’s ruling, Stambaugh became the second fired deputy to recently have an arbitrator rule they should get their job back after the Valentine’s Day bloodbath two years ago.
Sgt Brian Miller was reinstated four months ago after it was decided that Sheriff Gregory Tony had missed his firing deadline by two days.
Miller is owed at least $125,000 in backpay – it’s unclear exactly how much Stambaugh will get in back pay, but he earned more than $150,000 in 2018, including overtime, WFOR reported.
The sheriff’s office has already appealed the Miller decision and told the news station that it plans to challenge the ruling for Stambaugh.
Medics tend to an injured student as the victim is placed in an ambulance[/caption]
Cops patrol the area around the high school in Parkland, Florida shortly after the shooting[/caption]
President Donald Trump met with two Stoneman Douglas students at the White House a week after the shooting to speak about gun violence [/caption]
“Once again, an arbitrator with no connection or association with Broward County has made a flawed decision to reinstate a deputy who was terminated for his response to Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School on February 14, 2018,” the Sheriff’s Office general counsel said in a statement to the Sun-Sentinel on Wednesday.
“The arbitrator ruled on a procedural issue that BSO allegedly took too long to conduct the investigation, instead of addressing Joshua Stambaugh’s failures and holding him accountable for his lack of response during the [Marjory Stoneman Douglas] massacre.
“The Broward Sheriff’s Office will explore all legal options to address this erroneous decision.”
A third fired deputy, Edward Eason, is set to go before an arbitrator later this year.
The Broward County Sheriff’s Office was widely criticized for its handling of the police response to the shooting[/caption]
The killing spree is the deadliest high school shooting in US history, surpassing the 1999 Columbine attack[/caption]
Shortly after the first anniversary of the shooting, two Parkland survivors died by suicide in March 2019[/caption]
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Eason was also criticized for leaving the scene of the shooting and for failing to write up a report on an earlier tip he had gotten about the 19-year-old shooter making online threats about the attack.
Meanwhile, Cruz is still awaiting trial for 17 counts of murder and 17 counts of attempted murder for the killings.
His attorneys have said he’ll plead guilty if a judge spares him the death penalty and he’s instead given a life sentence – a deal that prosecutors have rejected.
Cruz’s attorneys have said he’ll plead guilty to the murder charges if he’s given a life sentence instead of the death penalty[/caption]
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