TAMARAC, Fla. — Seven Broward Sheriff’s Office employees were placed on administrative leave amid the investigation into a triple murder in Tamarac, the sheriff announced Wednesday, calling it a “piss-poor performance” by several members of the agency.

“It is clear based on the preliminary information … we fell short on this one,” Sheriff Gregory Tony said, citing investigations leading up to the deadly shootings that could have put Nathan Gingles behind bars before the tragedy could occur. 

The sheriff said that he could very well end up in front of the camera again to announce further suspensions as his agency looks more into the shortcomings of the investigation. 

“As we continue to gather more facts on this, I’m going to end up back in front of this camera, make no mistake about it,” he said. “Because I want to make sure this community continues to trust us and know, when we get this stuff wrong, people are gonna be held accountable, and I’m going to step up and own every bit of it.”

The Broward Sheriff’s Office responded to reports of a shooting just after 6 a.m. Sunday on North Plum Bay Parkway in Tamarac. They arrived to find 64-year-old David Pozner — the father of Mary Gingles — shot to death on the home’s back patio. 

During their investigation, homicide detectives learned that 4-year-old Seraphine Gingles was taken from the home. Florida authorities issued an Amber Alert just after 10 a.m. under the belief that Seraphine was kidnapped by her father, 43-year-old Nathan Gingles.

Later on, after what Tony called a “remarkable hostage rescue,” Seraphine Gingles was recovered safe and unharmed and Nathan Gingles was taken into custody.

Meanwhile, homicide detectives found Seraphine’s mother, 34-year-old Mary Gingles, shot to death at a home across the street from where her father was found dead. Another man, 36-year-old Andrew Ferrin, was also found shot to death inside the home.

The killings were committed in front of the Gingles’ 4-year-old daughter, a warrant obtained by NBC 6 read.

Nathan Gingles was charged with three counts of first-degree murder, violation of a domestic violence injunction and interference with custody, among others. 

Tony said on Wednesday that within just a few hours of looking into how their agency handled its investigation of Nathan Gingles, it was clear certain members of the sheriff’s office fell short. 

“Some of the things we found in the first couple of hours … it was clear that, no, we’re gonna have to address this one, we’re gonna have to come to the public and let them know what the hell happened,” Tony said.  

Tony said there were seven members of his agency that had “some involvement” with the investigation and are now on administrative lead pending further investigation. Those suspended include one lieutenant, two sergeants and four deputies. 

“These aren’t shortcomings of policies, procedures, training or equipment from my assessment, this is really just a shortcoming of performance, whether it be complacency, not taking a greater interest, and not doing their due diligence to make sure they’re documenting everything in an accurate manner so when it does arrive in the investigator’s hand, they have a comprehensive report that’ll allow them to make better judgement and decisions,” the sheriff said. 

Tony said his agency may have been able to arrest Nathan Gingles back in December, but said a deputy failed to do his job properly. 

The sheriff is referencing a call a deputy responded to where he spent 35 minutes and 34 seconds on scene, which Tony has memorized because he “watched every bit of it on body-worn camera.” 

Tony said the December case was very “robust” in terms of “threat spectrum,” due to the amount of times Mary Gingles said she is afraid Nathan Gingles is going to kill her. 

“There was enough there that we could have potentially pursued probable cause affidavit so we could arrest him and take him off the street,” Tony said. “I’m basically saying we had a chance to save their loved ones life and we failed.”

The sheriff added he’ll be turning every stone in the sheriff’s office, and if he finds any shortcomings, they will be fired. 

“There will be people that lose their job over this,” the sheriff said.