An armed sheriff’s deputy working as a security guard at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School during last week’s mass shooting has resigned amid an investigation that found he did not enter the school during Nikolas Cruz’s deadly gun rampage, which killed 17 people.

Broward County Sheriff Scott Israel announced the resignation of Deputy Scot Peterson at a press conference Thursday evening. The School Resource Deputy (SRD) had been placed under internal investigation after surveillance footage found that he remained outside the school during the gunfire on February 14. Peterson was the only armed officer at the school at the time of the shooting.

The Sheriff said in the press conference that Peterson chose to resign his position after being informed on Thursday that he was under investigation and would be suspended without pay. Sheriff Israel did not specify at the press conference why Peterson remained outside the school during the shooting, but was visibly angered by the deputy’s inaction.

“Devastated, sick to my stomach — there are no words,” Israel said, adding that Peterson was “clearly” aware of the active shooter situation.

Sheriff Israel also announced that the department had put two additional deputies on restricted duty following an internal reviews that found 23 instances of police reports involving Nikolas Cruz’s family since 2008. He said that authorities will “make a decision about whether they could have done more” to intervene.

This is a developing story. CrimeOnline will provide updates when more information is available.

[Feature image: Associated Press]