Parents of Parkland victims don't want suspended Sheriff Scott Israel reinstated

PARKLAND, Fla. – The Florida Senate will soon decide whether to reinstate Scott Israel as Broward County sheriff, as recommended by a special master. 

But the parents of some Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting victims do not want Israel to get his job back. 

"You would like to think that he would have done his job better after Feb. 14, losing 17 people in this county, but he didn't," Fred Guttenberg, whose daughter, Jaime, was one of the 17 people killed in the 2018 Parkland school shooting, said during a news conference Monday.

Special Master Dudley Goodlette's recommendation for reinstatement comes nine months after Israel was removed from office. 

"There is not one argument that will convince anyone that it is a good idea to bring this guy back," Manuel Oliver, whose son, Joaquin, was killed in the shooting, said. 

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis called Israel's actions on the day of the shooting inadequate, with parents backing up those claims.

Lori Alhadeff, a current Broward County school board member whose daughter, Alyssa, was killed in the shooting, said a lack of response by former school resource Deputy Scot Peterson indicates "a lack of training."

The recommendation for Israel's reinstatement will go before the Florida Senate next week. 

It points to several areas, one of them being that the shooting responsibility was a collective failure that should not just be blamed on Israel.

"If there was one deputy that failed and it was only the (school resource deputy), maybe he was a coward that day, but nine different deputies?" Max Schachter, whose son, Alex, was killed in the shooting, said. "Not just rank and file -- sergeants, lieutenants, captains, all the way through the leadership. That shows systemic lack of training and lack of leadership starting at the top. He does not deserve his job back."