Florida sheriff starts programme to arm teachers
ORLANDO: The top law enforcement official in Polk County, Florida, yesterday said his department had started a programme that would train and arm teachers in schools to fend off and discourage wouldbe shooters.
Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd also said the Baker Act, which governed involuntary institutionalisation of people with mental health issues, needed more teeth.
‘‘When a crazed gunman arrives on campus with murder in his eyes, the deed is done within two to five minutes,’’ he said, adding that criminals will think twice if they suspect someone else on campus might have a gun under the county’s socalled ‘‘Sentinel programme’’.
Several private colleges and other schools have sought more information about the programme, which was adopted by Southeastern University in Lakeland in December, Judd said.
Judd made the remarks in the wake of the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, where gunman Nikolas Cruz killed 17 people last week.
He said if teachers there were armed, the incident could have had a different outcome.
Meanwhile, shackled and wearing a red jump suit, Cruz made his first live appearance in a Broward County circuit court five days after the Valentine’s Day shooting.
Cruz, a slightly built teen, did not say anything and never looked up at the crowd or the judge from his seat at the defence table. He kept his head and eyes downcast, even as his defence lawyer whispered to him. It was a tense atmosphere — Cruz was surrounded by Broward Sheriff’s deputies as media members and lawyers watched from the gallery.
Dallas Mayor Pro Tem Dwaine Caraway yesterday urged the National Rifle Association to find a new home for its annual meeting in May.
Caraway said the NRA event, scheduled for May 36 at the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Centre is inappropriate for Dallas after the school shooting last week. The NRA’s meeting will include firearms exhibits where attendees can buy guns, and NRA officials will discuss leadership.— Sun Sentinal/TNS