TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Gov. Rick Scott announced Wednesday that he will deploy eight Florida Highway Patrol troopers to help secure Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.
The move comes less than a day after the Broward Sheriff's Office announced it was suspending a deputy after he was found sleeping in his patrol car outside the school.
Three Marjory Stoneman Douglas students were also arrested Tuesday in unrelated incidents -- two for allegedly bringing weapons to campus and one for allegedly making a threat of violence on social media, the BSO said.
"It is imperative that the proper steps are immediately taken at all schools, including Marjory Stoneman Douglas to keep students and staff safe," Scott said in a statement. "Parents, students and teachers have recently endured one of the worst tragedies in Florida history. They must be assured that every necessary step is being taken to increase safety and ensure no unauthorized people are allowed on campus."
Deputy Moises Carotti was suspended with pay, pending an investigation. A Marjory Stoneman Douglas student found Carotti asleep outside the 1200 building where 17 people were killed on Feb. 14.
On Tuesday, Jordan Salter, 18, and Gavin Stricker, 16, were arrested for bring knives on campus.
Salter is accused of threatening a student who was making sexual remarks that she found insulting. She was arrested after she reached inside of her bra to pull out a 2-inch folding knife and showed it to the other student, according to an arrest report.
Stricker was arrested after a 9-inch knife was found in his backpack, according to another arrest report. Another student told a teacher that Stricker had been seen with a knife while riding the school bus Monday.
A third student is undergoing a psychological evaluation after two threatening posts on Snapchat.
Scott added that additional security will also be provided to other Broward County schools.
"We must work together to ensure that no family will have to endure the loss of a child because of a school shooting in Florida," Scott said.
Stoneman Douglas students told Local 10 News reporter Terrell Forney Wednesday that new security measures were established at the school immediately after the shooting.
"There have been many more police and when we come late, we can't just walk through the doors. We have to walk through the security office (and) we have to have our IDs all the time," ninth-grader Nicole Weisselberg said.
The developments are also on the heels of the trespassing arrest of Zachary Cruz, 18, who is the brother of the Stoneman Douglas shooter.
The young man had no ties to the school, but deputies arrested him there on Monday. His bond is now set at $500,000.
On Wednesday, Local 10 News learned that Cruz was arrested twice in 2016.. Records show an officer observed Cruz skateboarding on top of a marked Coral Springs police unit.
A month later, Cruz was arrested for shoplifting after store security allegedly observed Cruz entering a Target and selecting two headsets and one Xbox controller that he tried to hide in a backpack.
Broward County Public Schools Superintendent Robert Runcie sent a letter home to parents Wednesday, reassuring them that the school district is taking steps to improve the security and safety of their children.
"All safety protocols for routine school operations are being reinforced at all schools. This includes requiring students and staff to wear identification badges while on campus; locking classroom doors at all times; locking and securing exterior doors and gates throughout the day; being vigilant in monitoring the campus throughout the day; and conducting emergency preparedness and response training for faculty, staff and students on a regular basis," the letter read.
The letter also informed parents that she school district will be upgrading its real-time surveillance camera systems at all public schools in the county and will continue to conduct code-red, active-shooter training throughout the school year at all schools.
