Deputy charged with inaction during shooting

Allegations carry maximum potential prison sentence of nearly 100 years

Associated Press

MIAMI

The Florida deputy who knew a gunman was loose at the Parkland high school but refused to go inside to confront the assailant was arrested Tuesday on 11 criminal charges related to his inaction during the massacre that killed 17 people.

Scot Peterson was on duty as the resource officer at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School during the February 2018 shooting but never entered the building while bullets were flying.

He was charged with child neglect, culpable negligence and perjury – allegations that carry a maximum potential prison sentence of nearly 100 years.

In the weeks after the attack, Peterson was seen on surveillance video rushing with two staff members toward the building where the shooting happened. When they arrived, Peterson pulled his weapon and went forward but then retreated and took up a position outside, where he stood with his gun drawn.

The charges follow a 14-month investigation by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, which conducted interviews with 184 witnesses, reviewed hours of surveillance videos and compiled 212 investigative reports, the agency said.

Peterson “did absolutely nothing to mitigate” the shooting, FDLE Commissioner Rick Swearingen said in a statement. “There can be no excuse for his complete inaction and no question that his inaction cost lives.”

Peterson, 56, was jailed on $102,000 bail. Once released, he will be required to wear a GPS monitor and surrender his passport and will be prohibited from possessing a gun, the prosecutor said.