Why was Broward County Schools superintendent Robert Runcie arrested?
BROWARD County Schools superintendent Robert Runcie was arrested on Wednesday, April 21, and charge with perjury. According to police, Runcie lied to a grandy jury investigating the event surrounding the 2018 high school mass shooting. Why was Broward County Schools superintendent Robert Runcie arrested? According to an indictment issued by the grand jury released after […]
BROWARD County Schools superintendent Robert Runcie was arrested on Wednesday, April 21, and charge with perjury.
According to police, Runcie lied to a grandy jury investigating the event surrounding the 2018 high school mass shooting.
Why was Broward County Schools superintendent Robert Runcie arrested?
According to an indictment issued by the grand jury released after Runcie’s arrest, the superintendent lied when he testified before the panel three weeks ago.
It is investigating whether districts are following school safety laws, including those implemented after the February 14, 2018, slayings.
Details about the allegations against Runcie are sealed because grand jury proceedings are secret.
The school district’s attorney Barbara Myrick was also arrested on April 21.
Myrick, 72, is accused of unlawfully disclosing grand jury proceedings, a felony.
The grand jury, which was empaneled two years ago, is also investigating whether:
- Public agencies are using state safety grants for other purposes.
- Broward school officials misappropriated millions of dollars from a bond measure aimed at improving campus safety that was approved by county voters before the shooting.
- Officials intentionally underreported on-campus crimes committed by students.
What is a perjury charge?
Perjury is “giving a false testimony under oath on an issue or point of inquiry regarded as material.”
Perjury is considered a serious offense, as it can be used to take the power of the courts, which can result in miscarriages of justice.
In the United States the general perjury statute under federal law classifies perjury as a felony and provides for a prison sentence of up to five years.
How many people died in the 2018 shooting?
On February 14, 2018, Nikolas Cruz, 19, opened fire with an AR-15 rifle at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, killing 17 people and injuring 17 others.
The mass shooting is the deadliest high school shooting in US history.
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Nikolas was arrested and charged with 17 counts of premeditated murder and 17 counts of attempted murder.
However, three years later the trial of Cruz is in limbo, one reason is due to the coronavirus pandemic, and another is the sheer magnitude of the case, with hundreds of witnesses from shooting.
No trial date has been set, as Cruz continues to be housed in Broward County’s main jail.