An armed officer who stood outside a Florida school where a gunman killed 17 people last week “certainly did a poor job”, US President Donald Trump says.
Deputy Scot Peterson resigned after an investigation found he failed to confront the suspect.
Mr Trump said Mr Peterson might be a “coward” who “didn’t react properly under pressure”.
Florida’s governor meanwhile called for law enforcement officers to be placed in every public school in the state.
What did Trump say?
Speaking to reporters outside the White House on Friday morning, President Trump criticised the police officer who did not confront the perpetrator of the 14 February massacre in Parkland, Florida.
“He trained his whole life but when it came time to do something he didn’t have the courage,” he said.
“He certainly did a poor job.”
“But that’s a case where somebody was outside, they’re trained, they didn’t react properly under pressure or they were coward,” he added.
The Republican president later touted his love for gun rights on Friday at the Conservative Political Action Conference (Cpac) in Maryland.
He again proposed arming teachers as a solution to school safety, a method long championed by the National Rifle Association (NRA) gun lobby.
–
Source: BBC