Broward Police Chief Gregory Tony said Wednesday that two more Broward Sheriff officers were fired this week for their performance during last year’s massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, in which 17 students and school staff lost their lifes, and 17 others were injured.
During a brief press conference at Broward Police Headquarters (BSO), Tony said agents Edward Eason and and Josh Stambaugh were fired for “breach of duty.” This increases the number of officers fired after the worst massacre at a high school in the history of Florida.
The police chief, who also spoke of other investigations into controversial arrests by NSO agents, did not go into detail about the faults of the officers fired during the massacre at the school. He said that information would be published later.
The previous dismissals were those of Agent Scot Peterson, Parkland School Police, who decided not to enter the school during the attack of Nikolas Cruz, and Sergeant Brian Miller, the first supervisor to arrive at the site, who hid behind his patrol car. while the shots were being heard. Three other policemen, Brian Goolsby, Michael Kratz and Arthur Perry were exonerated of any wrongdoing.
Tony merely announced the layoffs, adding that he decided to rally the media to allay concerns among the public and Broward County leaders that the BSO was delaying several internal investigations.
The police chief said that the results of two other internal evaluations have been turned over to the Broward State Attorney’s Office and that at this time his institution could not reach any conclusion until the state decides whether to prosecute the agents in question.
Tony, appointed by Governor Ron DeSantis in January after he fired Scott Israel, has been embroiled in political controversies over the Parkland shooting and a series of arrests videotaped with cell phones. Israel is still trying to regain his position, claiming before the state Senate in recent weeks that it was not his fault for the Parkland massacre.
The police chief said he plans to run for office again in 2020. Tony, a former Coral Springs cop who runs a security company, has not said he will run for office.
Tony’s announcement of the layoffs came just hours before a press conference planned in Broward County court by civil rights lawyer Benjamin Crump and members of the NAACP, who have complained about the lack of measures by the BSO after two police officers were recorded violently arresting a Coral Springs high school student.
