PARKLAND, Fla. – The Broward Sheriff's Office released surveillance video Wednesday that shows law enforcement's response to the Valentine's Day mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland.
One camera angle shows a group of girls hurrying down the walkway near buildings 7 and 8.
According to the time stamp, it was 2:23 p.m. And according to BSO's timeline from the day, Nikolas Cruz was still shooting inside Building 12.
The same clip shows concerned staff gathering in the hall just moments later
Another portion of the video shows a group of law enforcement officials with their guns drawn entering the campus through the main gate at 2:40 p.m., about 10 minutes after the gunman fled the campus.
According to the BSO timeline of the shooting, Cruz left the school around 2:30 p.m., blending in with other students who were fleeing from the campus.
It's unclear when exactly authorities entered Building 12, where the shooting occurred.
Andrew Pollack, whose daughter Meadow was one of 17 people killed in the shooting, told Local 10 News that he wished the video showed more and that it just shows more of the same things we have already seen and already knew.
Pollack said all he can do now is wait for the results of the Florida Department of Law Enforcement's investigation into authorities' response to the shooting.
"You know, the FDLE is doing their report and I have to have confidence in them that they're going to look into it and they're going to come out with their results very shortly," Pollack said. "And if there is someone who is responsible, they're going to be held responsible. If there's malfeasance, I think people will be held accountable. You know, it's poor leadership. That's what is boils down to."
Last month, the 4th District Court of Appeal upheld a lower court's ruling that the surveillance video is public record that must be disclosed.
The First Amendment Foundation joined media organizations in a lawsuit requesting the release of the surveillance footage.
News organizations sought the video to better understand the actions of law enforcement and first responders during the shooting that killed 17 people.
Authorities said the school had 70 operating video cameras that day. The media organizations are not seeking any footage depicting the massacre or any victims.
Some of the videos released Wednesday do show students leaving the campus, although they are blurred.
Broward County prosecutors and the school board opposed the video release, stating that it could hurt the prosecution of Nikolas Cruz, 19, and reveal important information about the school's security system. They also claimed the footage was considered "criminal investigation information."
Broward Circuit Judge Jeffrey Levenson had ruled in April that the statutory exemptions did not bar the disclosure and the video revealed very little information about the school's security system. The school board and the state attorney's office appealed his decision. The Broward Sheriff's Office did not.
Judge Robert Gross, of the 4th District Court of Appeal, also reviewed the footage and wrote in his report that the public has a right to view the footage to see for themselves when first responders arrived at the Parkland campus, what they did once they arrived and whether authorities moved into the freshman building where the shooting occurred quickly or "hid in stairwells and behind their vehicles for an unreasonable length of time."
After the school shooting, officers from the Coral Springs Police Department accused BSO deputies of taking cover outside while the gunman was shooting inside the school and blended in with the crowd to leave campus.
Gov. Rick Scott's commission to investigate the Parkland shooting learned from BSO deputies that there were communications issues related to the way the dispatch system was set up. Some have accused former Deputy Scot Peterson, the school's resource officer, of acting like a coward at the time of the shooting. It's an accusation Peterson denies.
Cruz faces 17 counts of murder and 17 counts of attempted murder in the shooting.
