Sgt. Brian Miller neglected his duty when a former student shot and killed 17 students and faculty members at the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School on February 14, 2018. Miller was the first to respond to the shooting. But instead of jumping to action, he hid behind his car as the first shots rang out. He, along with four other Broward County deputies, were fired for their inaction.
He's now getting his job back, along with full back pay and restored seniority, the BSO Deputies Association revealed Wednesday.
NEW: The Broward Sheriff’s Office sergeant who was first to respond to the Stoneman Douglas High School shooting lost his job after he hid behind his car as the first shots rang out.
— Miami Herald (@MiamiHerald) May 14, 2020
He'll be reinstated, awarded full back pay, the union said Wednesday. https://t.co/T8u9P6xds8
“BSO violated Sgt. Brian Miller’s constitutional due process rights and improperly terminated him,” according to an arbitration ruling, the union said.
The three other deputies who were let go include Edward Eason, Joshua Stambaugh, and Scot Peterson. Peterson was the only armed officer on the grounds, yet he never went inside. The school resource officer has since excused away his inaction, telling NBC that he was confused as to where the noise was coming from and didn't think there was a mass shooting.
"When I heard those shots outside, I didn't even think that someone was inside the building,'' he claimed. "I never even thought that. I thought, 'There's shooting outside here. I don't know where it is.'''
Of course, his explanation did not appease the parents who lost their precious children. President Trump even singled him out as a "coward" in his 2018 CPAC speech.
Don't expect to hear the top brass accept any accountability either. Broward County Sheriff Scott Israel refused to take any responsibility for the tragedy and threw his officers under the bus. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis suspended him last January.
What a crew.