A former faculty safety officer was observed not responsible Thursday after he failed to confront the gunman who massacred 17 people at the Marjory Stoneman Douglas Superior University in Parkland, Florida, in 2018.
Scot Peterson, who was a Broward County sheriff’s deputy and worked as a useful resource officer at Marjory Stoneman Douglas, was billed in 2019 with seven counts of neglect of a child and 3 counts of culpable negligence and a person count of perjury.
He broke down in tears as the unanimous selection was read through Thursday.
The expenses carried a greatest probable sentence of 96½ a long time in state prison, the Broward County Condition Attorney’s Place of work explained.
Seventeen pupils, lecturers and personnel were killed in the shooting Feb. 14, 2018, and an additional 17 had been wounded.
Former legal professionals for Peterson have denounced the charges versus him as “unprecedented” and “spurious.”
“The State’s actions show up to be absolutely nothing much more than a thinly veiled attempt at politically enthusiastic retribution in opposition to Mr. Peterson,” attorney Joseph DiRuzzo stated in a assertion to NBC News in 2019. “The rates versus Mr. Peterson should be dismissed promptly.”
Peterson, 60, was the only other human being at the college with a gun when the shooter opened fire. He was forced to retire pursuing the university taking pictures.
He was taken into custody in Broward County after a 15-thirty day period investigation that confirmed he “refused to examine the source of the gunshots, retreated during the active shooting when victims were being being shot and directed other legislation enforcement who arrived on scene to keep on being 500 ft away from the making,” in accordance to the Florida Department of Legislation Enforcement.
Section Commissioner Rick Swearingen mentioned in a news launch that Peterson “did completely nothing” to end the taking pictures.
“There can be no excuse for his complete inaction and no dilemma that his inaction charge life,” Swearingen extra.
The state attorney’s place of work reported the law enforcement division interviewed far more than 180 witnesses, as effectively as reviewed video clip surveillance for the duration of the investigation.
A previous scholar, Nikolas Cruz, pleaded responsible to 17 counts of murder and 17 counts of attempted murder. In 2022, a jury spared him from the loss of life penalty, recommending that he be sentenced to life in jail with no parole for the 2018 massacre.
In an job interview with NBC’s “Nowadays” show about three months soon after the taking pictures, the previous guard apologized to the families of the 17 victims.
“I’m sorry,” he claimed through tears in the job interview.
The 33-12 months regulation enforcement veteran reported at the time it was not dread that kept him from hurrying into the college as the gunman stalked the halls with an AR-15. It was chaos, miscommunication and his assumption that the photographs ended up remaining fired exterior by a sniper.
“I didn’t get it suitable,” Peterson admitted. “But it wasn’t for the reason that of some, ‘Oh, I don’t want to go into that building. Oh, I really do not want to facial area any individual in there.’ It was not like that at all.”
