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<\/a><\/p>\n(Natural News<\/a>) Within hours of the Feb. 14 shooting at the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School details about suspect Nikolas Cruz were already streaming out across various news and online media outlets.<\/p>\n We knew, for instance, that he was a troubled youth who had been expelled from the school he attacked. We knew that he was known to the local police authorities as well as the FBI. We knew virtually everything about the guns he used and owned.<\/p>\n Now, weeks later, what stone has been left unturned? What do we still not know?<\/p>\n One of the things we also know is that Broward County Sheriff\u2019s Deputy Scot Peterson, an armed school resource officer on duty inside the school the day of the shooting, reportedly did nothing to save his young charges.<\/p>\n Is this why Broward County Sheriff Scott Israel is stonewalling the release of surveillance video that could provide investigators with more evidence and clues regarding the massacre?<\/p>\n That\u2019s what\u00a0an editorial<\/a>\u00a0in the\u00a0Sun-Sentinel<\/i>\u00a0newspaper is asking.<\/p>\n \u201cSince the\u00a0Valentine\u2019s Day shooting<\/a>\u201d at the school \u201cin Parkland, many government officials have walled off information needed to assess how well they did their jobs,\u201d the editorial states.<\/p>\n \u201cAt the head of the pack is Broward Sheriff Scott Israel, who suggests the school\u2019s resource officer acted cowardly during the mass shooting and two deputies mishandled earlier warnings. Aside from that, though, the sheriff wants you to take his word that he and his deputies did amazing work before, during and after the shooting,\u201d the paper continued.<\/p>\n Not good enough, the editors stated. The only way to hold government officials accountable to the people who appointed or elected them is complete transparency. That means that the people are going to have to see the surveillance video for themselves \u2014 no holds barred \u2014 otherwise it\u2019s a situation where local Floridians will have to \u201ctake the word\u201d of a sheriff who still hasn\u2019t explained all he should have to explain.<\/p>\n Like why, according to various reports, his deputies refused to enter the school as children were being killed \u2014 like the department\u2019s protocols state. Israel has said that yeah,\u00a0that\u2019s what should have happened<\/a>, but it\u00a0didn\u2019t<\/i>\u00a0and people want to know why. (Related:\u00a0Parkland shooting survivor files suit against Broward County school district after ARMED resource officer failed to protect students<\/a>.)<\/p>\n \u201cThe video is not the only public record sought by the\u00a0South Florida Sun-Sentinel<\/i>\u00a0and other media organizations in the aftermath of the shooting and the epic government failure surrounding it,\u201d the editorial noted. \u201cAmong other things, we\u2019ve also requested copies of the 911 calls, police radio calls and incident reports from the 39 times [Broward Sheriff\u2019s Office] deputies were called to the home of Nikolas Cruz, who\u2019s confessed to carrying out the rampage that killed 17 and injured 17.\u201d<\/p>\n The surveillance video actually just became more important. As the\u00a0New York Post<\/i><\/a>reports, Peterson has been caught lying about details of the shooting. He has said he believed that the shooter was outside \u2014 which is where\u00a0he<\/i>\u00a0was \u2014 but in reality transcripts of his radio call to HQ show he knew that the shooter was\u00a0inside<\/i>. What\u2019s more, the paper said, he also warned responding officers to\u00a0stay away from the school\u00a0<\/i>as kids were being killed.<\/p>\n \u201cDo not approach the 12 or 1300 building, stay at least 500 feet away,\u201d Peterson said over the radio, according to internal radio dispatches released Thursday.<\/p>\n Ah. Another piece of the puzzle. But it\u2019s still not enough.<\/p>\n As the\u00a0Sun-Sentinel<\/i>\u00a0said, getting the video may indeed expose wrongdoing on the part of the Sheriff\u2019s Department \u2014 but it could also show what may have went wrong on the part of the school. Did teachers and staff react properly? If not, why not? As for Peterson, he says the video will exonerate him, so there\u2019s\u00a0that<\/i>.<\/p>\n The video will also highlight what went\u00a0right<\/i>, the editors note, making for teachable moments.<\/p>\n For now, though, Israel has decided that no one needs to see what really happened that day. And frankly, that\u2019s unacceptable.<\/p>\n J.D. Heyes is editor of\u00a0<\/i>The National Sentinel<\/i><\/a>\u00a0and a senior writer for Natural News and News Target.<\/i><\/p>\n Sources include:<\/b><\/p>\n Sun-Sentinel.com<\/a><\/p>\n