Broward County Public Schools officials revealed that in the mass shooting which occurred at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, on February 14, the 19-year-old Nikolas Cruz who killed 17 people and left 17 wounded had been referred to the PROMISE program, which was created when the Ex-President Obama was in power.
The goal of the program was to keep the minors with misdemeanor offenses from entering the criminal justice system.
That is contrary to what the superintendent had previously stated.
Senator Marco Rubio wrote on his Twitter account that: ‘I was repeatedly told that the Parkland shooter was never in the Promise Program I was asking questions about. Now it turns out that in fact, he was.’
Ryan Petty, the father of Alaina Petty, who lost her life in the mass shooting commented about this on his Twitter account.
He said that this is a stunning revelation and one that flies in the face of the previous statements.
‘The focus should not be on any specific program. It’s the totality of District failures that must be addressed.’ he wrote.
In one of his replies, Petty said that even the benevolent programs are incompetently omitted.
‘The definition of success for many of these programs created perverse incentives for school staff, administrators & law enforcement. Best practices for threat assessment were not in place in Broward schools. In fact, many discipline programs were in direct conflict with established best practices. Our children and teachers are still at risk.’ Petty also added.
Petty pointed that The Broward County School Board failed in their responsibility as an oversight body and that they have forgotten their duty to the educators, students, and parents.
‘We must continue to shine a disinfecting light on the Broward County Schools. Parents must have the information they need to protect their children and to ensure Broward schools deliver the education they promise,’ he added.
Ryan Petty has been outspoken on the topic of school safety but has received far less publicity than those who advocate for strict arms control.
‘After every school shooting the conversation inevitably moves to gun control, but each side is entrenched in their positions, the moment passes, and nothing gets done,’ Ryan Petty told The Daily Beast. ‘I’m not a policy expert just because I’ve been through a tragedy, but there’s enough we can agree on to let us take effective action.’