Florida Governor Firing Sheriff Scott Israel Over Parkland Shooting Response

Sheriff Scott Israel Image by Getty

By Alyssa Fisher January 11, 2019

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis is expected to suspend and then replace Broward County Sheriff Scott Israel over the public safety department’s response to the school shooting in Parkland last year, the South Florida Sun Sentinel reported.

DeSantis will share the news Friday afternoon, sources told the Sun Sentinel. He’s likely to name former Coral Springs Police Sergeant Gregory Tony as the next sheriff.

“We have an event that we’re doing tomorrow,” DeSantis’ office said Thursday night. “The governor’s going to issue a statement on holding government officials accountable.”

Seventeen students and staff were killed at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School nearly a year ago. According to the Miami Herald, a state panel investigating the shooting found that sheriff’s deputies weren’t properly trained, and that they took cover to protect themselves instead of pursuing the shooter.

Tony is president of Blue Spear Solutions, a security company that specializes in active shooter and mass casualty training, according to the Herald.

Andrew Pollack, the father of Meadow Pollack, who died in the shooting, told Politico Florida that Tony, a friend, had retired as the “most-decorated sergeant” in Coral Springs.

Alyssa Fisher is a news writer at the Forward. Email her at fisher@forward.com, or follow her on Twitter at @alyssalfisher

A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

The coming year promises to be filled with more complex and historic developments. We are entering an era where independent, fact-based Jewish journalism will be more important than ever. We need to be ready for whatever 2025 will bring, and with your help, we can be.

We’ve set a goal to raise $260,000 by December 31. That’s an ambitious goal, but one that will give us the resources we need to invest in the high quality news, opinion, analysis and cultural coverage that isn’t available anywhere else.

If you feel inspired to make an impact, now is the time to give something back. Join us as a member at your most generous level.

— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO