Third Broward deputy disciplined

Officer did not immediately confront Parkland gunman

Josh Stambaugh, one of eight Broward Sheriff’s Office deputies who heard gunshots but did not immediately try to confront the gunman at the Parkland school shooting, was put on restricted duty Thursday.

Stambaugh is the third deputy the agency has placed under investigation for inaction during the massacre of 17 people at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School on Feb. 14.

Each of those investigations began more than nine months after the shooting, despite repeated criticism of the agency’s slow response at the scene.

The 24-year agency veteran, who made $151,954 in 2017, was working an off-duty shift at a nearby school when he responded to reports of shots fired at Stoneman Douglas.

Stambaugh got out of his truck, went to the back of it to put on his bulletproof vest and then took cover for about five minutes after hearing the shots, according to body camera footage.

His next move was not into the school, but instead to get back into his truck and drive to a nearby highway. That trip took over five minutes and thirty seconds, a state commission investigating the law enforcement response found.

“I could see the whole side of the school and I had binoculars,” he later said in a sworn statement. “So, if he was anywhere in that school, on the stairwells, I could, you know, get vision of it and I can advise on the radio.”

Stambaugh on Thursday was ordered to give up his Sheriff ’s Office identification card and any agency-issued weapons. He is also prohibited from driving any Sheriff ’s Office vehicle.

The agency is investigating allegations of neglect of duty unsatisfactory performance and not meeting Sheriff ’s Office standards, according to a document outlining the investigation

The decision to put Stambaugh, 50, on restricted duty came after the state commission called for the agency to investigate his response and those of other deputies, who all arrived in time to hear gunshots.

It’s unclear why the agency waited until now to investigate Stambaugh, considering that he was wearing a body camera the day of the shooting.

The two other deputies the agency previously put under investigation are Edward Eason and Sgt. Brian Miller.

Two other deputies, who also heard gunshots, have since retired from the Sheriff’s Office. One of them is Scot Peterson, the widely criticized school deputy who was at the school when the shooting began.

In an interview with state investigators, Stambaugh, like other Sheriff’s Office deputies, struggled to recall the last time he received active shooter training — uncertain whether it was in the last 10 years.

“I couldn’t give you a time,” he said. “It was a long time ago.”

Sheriff ’s Office records show he last had it in February of 2016.

“It was obvious Stambaugh had no recollection of his active shooter training in 2016,” the state commission found.