A Florida sheriff came under mounting criticism on Sunday for his deputies' response to this month's deadly high school shooting and potential warning signs as dozens of state lawmakers called for his ouster and the governor ordered an independent inquiry. Israel sought to dismiss those reports, based on unnamed sources from the neighboring Coral Springs Police Department, which also responded to the shooting. The sheriff said separately on Twitter that he welcomed an investigation by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, as requested by Governor Rick Scott, to examine the response by local police and the sheriff's office. The sheriff told CNN on Sunday that 16 other "calls for service" his department received about Cruz before the massacre were properly handled. It cited additional questions raised about the actions of the first deputies on the scene of the shooting.

Source: dna February 26, 2018 02:48 UTC