Two Florida SWAT team members have been suspended after responding to the Florida massacre without their bosses’ permission.
Detectives Jeffrey Gilbert and Carl Schlosser – as identified by the Florida Sun-Sentinel – did not tell superiors that they were going to Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School where mass shooter Nikolas Cruz, 19, killed 17 people.
After they jumped into action without following protocol, the two were suspended from the Miramar Police Department’s ‘privileged program’ on February 22 and were ordered to surrender their SWAT-issued rifles.
Detectives Jeffrey Gilbert (left) and Carl Schlosser (right) were suspended from Miramar Police Department after responding to the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School on Valentine’s Day without their bosses’ permission
The SWAT members’ suspension applied to the SWAT team, department spokeswoman Tania Tues said on Wednesday, adding that they’ll remain on active duty for other assignments.
Miramar’s SWAT team had been training in Coral Springs near the high school at the time of the shooting rampage and was placed on standby after the active-shooter report came in.
The Broward County Sheriff’s Office never called for the team to respond.
The Broward County Sheriff’s Office never called for the team to respond to the shooting where Nikolas Cruz, 19, shot and killed 17 (Pictured, students flee Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School)
Police response plans across the country have been changed to avoid having cops swarm to scenes (Pictured, students flee Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School)
Police response plans across the country have been changed to avoid having cops swarm to scenes. A crowd of arriving law enforcement can cause road blocks needed by ambulances, overwhelm radios and potentially add to more confusion.
The president of the police officers’ union disagreed with the department’s decision and called the officers ‘brave and heroic’.
‘While it may have been a violation of policy to not notify their supervisors that they were going there, their intentions were brave and heroic, I think,’ Jeff Marano, president of the Broward County Police Benevolent Association, told the Florida Sun-Sentinel on Wednesday.
The president of the police officers’ union disagreed with the department’s decision and called the officers ‘brave and heroic’ (Pictured, Detective Carl Schlosser)
he SWAT members’ suspension applied to the SWAT team, department spokeswoman Tania Tues said on Wednesday, adding that they’ll remain on active duty for other assignments (Pictured, Detective Jeffrey Gilbert)
A third SWAT member, Officer Kevin Gonzalez, was suspended for violating the department’s social media policy and code of contact, reported the Sun-Sentinel.
He was accused of being linked to posts that ‘put the city and police in a negative light,’ the Florida Sun-Sentinel reported.
The Broward Sheriff’s Office told the news outlet Wednesday that it could not confirm whether anyone contacted the Miramar department on the day of the shooting, but said Miramar’s SWAT team was ‘not needed.’