The Sun-Sentinel and other media companies file suit to force release of school security footage.
Three media companies filed a lawsuit Monday to try to force authorities to release security video footage from the exterior of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School to shed light on the actions — or inaction — of law enforcement during the mass shooting.
The South Florida Sun Sening The Miami Herald and CNN filed the civil lawsuit in Broward Circuit Court, citing Florida’s public records law. The lawsuit names the Broward Sheriff’s Office and the School Board of Broward County, as well as Sheriff Scott Israel and Superintendent Robert Runcie, in their official roles, as defendants.
The lawsuit seeks access to video from cameras outside the Parkland school on the day of the shooting and cites the “extreme public interest” in figuring out precisely what happened.
Attorneys wrote that the shocking nature of the crime, which left 17 people dead and 16 injured, has sparked “fervent discussion about school safety, gun violence, and gun safety.”
“Specifically, the response of law enforcement officers durtinel, the shooting and immediately thereafter is of extreme public interest. Moreover, the details of actions by law enforcement officers — in particular the armed school resource officer at the school — have been publicly disclosed by Sheriff Scott Israel,” attorneys Dana McElroy and James McGuire wrote in the lawsuit.
The lawsuit asks for a judge to review the footage in private and rule on whether there are legal reasons to withhold some portions of the video.
“Witnesses and other law enforcement agencies additionally have described the events shown on the video. The public, therefore, should be given the first-hand opportunity to review and evaluate the video and the actions of its government officials.”
Former student Nikolas Cruz has been arrested on 17 counts of premeditated murder.
Broward Sheriff’s Deputy Scot Peterson resigned and then retired last week when investigators at the sheriff’s office notified him he was under investigation.
In an emotional news conference, Sheriff Israel said video from the external cameras at the school showed Peterson remained outside the building for four minutes while Cruz used an AR-15 rifle to gun down students and employees inside.
Law enforcement sources have also stated that other deputies, who may have arrived later, also did not enter the building during the mass shooting.
The sheriff’s office and school district have declined to release the video to the public, saying the footage could reveal a security system plan; that the video is part of an ongoing criminal investigation related to Cruz; and that it is part of an internal affairs investigation of Peterson.
The media companies argue that these potential public records exemptions do not apply to this case and do not justify “concealing this video from the public.”
“There is a strong public interest in having the public — and more specifically Florida citizens — fully evaluate how first responders and police reacted during the most critical phases of this terrible tragedy,” the lawsuit reads. “Even Sheriff Israel has conceded that this is information the public needs to know. Disclosing this video footage from exterior cameras (not the interior where the shooting occurred), lies at the core of understanding exactly how events unfolded and will provide critical insight into the propriety of the government’s response.”
The lawsuit asks for a judge to review the footage in private and rule on whether there are legal reasons to withhold some portions of the video.
The Broward Sheriff ’s Office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The Broward County school district declined to comment on pending or ongoing litigation. Last week, district officials said they no longer had access to the video because law enforcement served a search warrant on the district and removed the server and all footage related to the incident.
In an interview with the South Florida Sun Sentinel on Monday, Superintendent Robert Runcie said the district no longer has the video: “BSO and the FBI have all the video related to this. We have none of it in our possession. They made that clear. They gave us a warrant and subpoena and took it all. I couldn’t show you anything. I don’t have it.”
Gov. Rick Scott on Sunday asked the Florida Department of Law Enforcement to investigate the response to the Parkland school shooting, as questions mounted over the Broward Sheriff’s Office’s handling of the tragedy.
The announcement came just hours after the sheriff appeared on CNN and refused any blame for his agency’s missteps and touted his own “amazing leadership.”
The governor’s office said that the investigation will begin immediately