A Marjory Stoneman Douglas coach who saw Nikolas Cruz step onto campus before the Valentine's Day shooting and another coach who hid in a closet that day have been barred from the Parkland, Fla., school. The men served as unarmed security monitors for the school.
Andrew Medina, a baseball coach, saw Cruz arrive on campus Feb. 14 wearing a backpack and carrying a duffel bag, South Florida Sun Sentinel reported last week. He told detectives he watched Cruz head to the building where 17 people would be killed moments later at the school.
“I’m telling you I knew who the kid was,” Medina told investigators. “Because we had a meeting about him last year and we said, ‘If there’s gonna be anybody who’s gonna come to this school and shoot this school up, it’s gonna be that kid.’”
Medina radioed another coach and security monitor, David Taylor, about Cruz, saying "keep your eyes open." When Taylor heard gunfire, he hid in a janitor's closet.
Nadine Drew, spokesperson for Broward County Public Schools, told USA TODAY that Medina and Taylor "have received administrative reassignments away from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School until further notice," because of "information that has recently appeared in the media."
Andrew Pollack, whose daughter Meadow was killed by Cruz, called The Associated Press on Wednesday to say Medina should be fired.
"All he had to do was say 'Code Red.' He was trained to say those words and he didn't do it. That's the incompetency of the Broward School District," Pollack said.
Medina said he didn't call for a Code Red, because he didn't see a gun.
