In the weeks since the tragic shooting occurred in Parkland, Florida, we have learned that cops cowered outside instead of helping, the police and FBI were all warned on multiple occasions that the alleged shooter, Nikolas Cruz, told people he was going to shoot up the school, nearly two dozen people reported Cruz for death threats, and first responders were told to stand down. Now, we are finding out that the surveillance footage from the school — which the public has a right to see — is being deliberately kept secret by the Broward county sheriff — which many say is illegal.

Broward county sheriff Scott Israel, who has already been caught contradicting the official story, is claiming that the surveillance footage must remain secret.

The South Florida Sun Sentinel, the Miami Herald and CNN have filed an open records lawsuit against the Israel and school Superintendent Robert Runcie for their role in this secrecy.

Officials claim that the video is exempt from Florida sunshine laws because its release would somehow put lives at risk and expose the district’s security system. However, as the NY Post reports, this is not true.

First, disclosure of the videos would pose no danger to students because Building 12, where the shooting took place, will be demolished.

Second, key investigative records, transcripts and logs in the active criminal probe against the Parkland school shooter have already been released to the public. Israel himself coughed up call logs documenting 23 times the shooter’s family or neighbors called deputies to the house. Additional dispatch records obtained by local and national media outlets revealed 22 more calls to law enforcement dating back to 2008 that had not been initially communicated by the selectively disclosing sheriff.

Moreover, the open-records lawsuit notes that Israel has already publicly described in detail what the video shows about Peterson’s actions: He arrived at the west side of Building 12, took position, got on his radio, had a view of the western entry of Building 12 but never went in for “upwards of four minutes” while the shooter slaughtered 17 innocent students and teachers.

By refusing to release the video, police are creating an environment that fosters distrust, and rightfully so.

In case after case of “terror” attacks in the United States, the surveillance footage is immediately released in almost every incident. However, in Parkland and Las Vegas — two shootings that have been surrounded by controversy and cover ups — the public has seen nothing.

Within hours of a terrorist attack in New York City, the surveillance footage of Akayed Ullah walking into the underground tunnel between Times Square and the Port Authority Bus Terminal and detonating a crudely-made pipe bomb was released.

Before that, a suspect, identified as Sayfullo Habibullaevic Saipov, rented a pickup truck, drove it onto a busy bicycle path and mowed down innocent people before getting out and brandishing toy guns. Almost immediately after the horrific attack that left 8 dead and a dozen more injured, video of Saipov, an Uzbekistan native, was released.

It has been months since the attack in Vegas and officials have yet to release a single still image of Stephan Paddock in the Mandalay Bay Casino. This is in spite of the thousands of cameras both inside and outside of the casino.

Now, it appears, this same secrecy and cover-up is going to happen in Parkland. Hopefully, for the sake of the victims and their families, and in the interest of the public, the lawsuits will resolve successfully, and the evidence will be released — even if it is damning to the image of the Broward sheriff. Indeed, the Broward Circuit Court agrees.

“If there were shortcomings,” Broward Circuit Court Judge Charles Greene concluded, “the public has the right to know.” (For more from the author of “Just Like Vegas, Authorities Are Hiding the Surveillance Footage of Parkland Shooting” please click HERE)

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Fox News has learned that in the critical moments as first responding deputies were searching for an active shooter on the property of Marjory Stoneman Douglas high school, a commanding officer on scene apparently ordered some of the initial responders to “stage” and set up a “perimeter” outside — instead of immediately ordering or allowing officers to rush in to neutralize the suspect, Nikolas Cruz.

“It’s atrocious,” a law enforcement source who was on the scene after the shooting told Fox News. “If deputies were staging it could have cost lives.”

The law enforcement source said responding deputies and officers were called to an active shooter scene in which they are trained to immediately “go, go, go” toward the direction of the shooter. “Every second is another life,” the source said.

The Broward County Sherrif’s Office policy on active shooters indicates responding deputies may enter the building to preserve life without permission. That remains the priority until various objectives are met such as the shooter being detained. The policy does not appear to list staging — setting up an area to keep first responders safe before police secure a violent scene — or a perimeter as an immediate priority.

However, two law enforcement officials said the call for staging or a perimeter might not have been a bad call because staging and a perimeter eventually has to happen during most emergency situations and the commanding officer might have had information the rest of the crews did not. (Read more from “Commanding Officer Initially Ordered Responding Deputies to ‘Stage’ Not Enter School, sources Say” HERE)

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Gov. Rick Scott on Sunday asked the Florida Department of Law Enforcement to investigate the response to the Parkland school massacre, as questions mounted over the Broward Sheriff’s Office’s handling of the shooting.

The announcement came just hours after Broward Sheriff Scott Israel appeared on CNN and refused any blame for his agency’s missteps and touted his own “amazing leadership.”

The governor’s office said the investigation will begin immediately in a statement released Sunday . It did not specifically name any law enforcement agencies. Butinvestigation the Sheriff’s Office was the lead agency on the scene and criticism has swirled about how it handled the first few minutes after a former student at the school opened fire in a hallway . . .

Appearing Sunday morning on CNN’s State of the Union with Jake Tapper, the sheriff said his agency was still investigating how multiple warnings about shooter Nikolas Cruz were missed and whether additional sheriff’s deputies failed to enter Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School immediately when they arrived . . .

“Deputies make mistakes, police officers make mistakes, we all make mistakes,” Israel said. “But it’s not the responsibility of the general or the president if you have a deserter. We’ll look into this. We’re looking into this aggressively, and we’ll take care of it, and justice will be served.” (Read more from “Florida Sheriff Refuses to Resign After School Massacre” HERE)

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