Commission asked Runcie to drop school inquiry

Broward Schools Superintendent Robert Runcie said Tuesday he ended an investigation into the role school staff played in the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High massacre at the request of a state commission.

Runcie was criticized after he hired former Secret Service Steve Wexler July 23 to connot duct an internal probe, only to end the investigation a week later. District officials said at the time that they worried it would duplicate the work of the state’s Marjory Stoneman Douglas Public Safety Commission, which also is reviewing what happened.

“After we had commenced an investigation with an individual, the commission requested that we leverage their investigation and not create re- and interference,” Runcie said Tuesday.

Pinellas County Sheriff Bob Gualtieri, chairman of the commission, confirmed that to the South Florida Sun Sentinel on Tuesday. He said he contacted Runcie after hearing about the Wexler probe.

“Wexler was going to start interviews, and I said that was not a good idea,” Gualtieri said. “If we start having a second set of interviews, it’s redundant, efficient. It’s counterproductive and can cause problems.”

As to why Runcie commissioned the Wexler review in the first place, he said he didn’t know that the commission was about to start interviews with school staff.

Gualtieri said the commission is scheduling interviews with Stoneman Douglas teachdundancy