PARKLAND, Fla. – Broward Sheriff's Office Commander Jan Jordan, who oversaw the agency's response to the Valentine's Day massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, resigned. Also, the first sergeant to arrive at the school was suspended.
Broward Sheriff Scott Israel hired Jordan, a former Fort Lauderdale cop, Jan. 8, 2013. Jordan was serving as the commanding law enforcement official in the city of Parkland when Nikolas Cruz shot and killed 17 at the school. She was replaced at the request of the city manager in June.
Israel accepted her resignation and her departure is effective Tuesday, according to the BSO's separation form.
The decision comes as the 14-member Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Public Safety Commission discusses the recommendations it will be making to prevent future school shootings. An investigator for the commission gave a report last week that was critical of BSO deputies.
Also on Tuesday, Parkland District Sgt. Brian Miller was placed on restrictive administrative duty. Video shows he remained in the parking lot even after other law enforcement officers entered the school building.
Col. James Polan ordered Miller to remain on a restricted administrative assignment pending an internal review, according to an internal memo. Miller will not be taking any law enforcement action as of Tuesday.
This isn't the first resignation Israel accepts from a deputy involved in the law enforcement response to the shooting.
Scot Peterson, the former resource officer at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, resigned after Israel accused him of failing to engage the shooter. Surveillance video shows him standing outside the 1400 school building while Cruz was shooting at students and teachers inside.
Peterson said through tears in an interview with "Today" that he was sorry and it wasn't fear that kept him from rushing inside. He said it was the miscommunication and an assumption that the shots were being fired outside by a sniper.
"Those are my kids in there," Peterson said. "I never would have sat there and let my kids get slaughtered, never."
Law enforcement officers told investigators she appeared to be overwhelmed as she tried to direct the initial response to the attack. Some of her colleagues believed Israel chose an inexperienced deputy for the job when he moved her from the civil division, where she handled such things as subpoenas and evictions, to become a district commander.
It's unclear if Jordan issued a stand-down order. BSO sources claimed in March without substantiation that Jordan instructed deputies to set up a perimeter around the school rather than go inside to confront the shooter as policy demands.
This is a developing story
