Ex-Parkland Deputy Peterson Charged After Retreating During School Shooting

June 5, 2019

As the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting was going on last year, former Broward County Sheriff’s Deputy Scot Peterson was outside the building. Instead of running into the building, he retreated.

Following an investigation by FDLE, Peterson, 56, was arrested in Broward County Tuesday on seven counts of neglect of a child and three counts of culpable negligence and one count of perjury. The arrest comes after a 15-month investigation into the actions of law enforcement following Parkland shooting.

“The FDLE investigation shows former Deputy Peterson did absolutely nothing to mitigate the MSD shooting that killed 17 children, teachers and staff and injured 17 others,” said FDLE Commissioner Rick Swearingen. “There can be no excuse for his complete inaction and no question that his inaction cost lives.”

“I was pleased the Florida Department of Law Enforcement in conjunction with the State Attorney’s Office conducted a thorough investigation that yielded the arrest of Scot Peterson. All the facts related to Mr. Peterson’s failure to act during the MSD massacre clearly warranted both termination of employment and criminal charges. It’s never too late for accountability and justice,” Sheriff Gregory Tony said.

Peterson was the school resource officer at MSD High School during the school shooting. The investigation shows Peterson refused to investigate the source of gunshots, retreated during the active shooting while victims were being shot and directed other law enforcement who arrived on scene to remain 500 feet away from the building.

During the investigation, FDLE agents interviewed 184 witnesses, reviewed countless hours of video surveillance, and wrote 212 investigative reports totaling over 800 hours on the case to determine the actions of law enforcement as they responded to the February 14, 2018, school shooting. FDLE agents received the full cooperation and assistance from the Broward County Sheriff’s Office, Coral Springs Police Department and all other agencies that responded to the school shooting.

Peterson was arrested at the Broward Sheriff’s Office headquarters and booked into the Broward County Main Jail. The Broward State Attorney’s Office will prosecute the case.

Comments

7 Responses to “Ex-Parkland Deputy Peterson Charged After Retreating During School Shooting”

  1. Chris J Paul on June 6th, 2019 12:38 am

    “To protect and serve”
    He heard shots and then lied and said he didn’t
    As a cop you go and investigate,
    Not cower for 45 minutes.
    Lock him up , take away his pension,

  2. Tom on June 5th, 2019 11:35 pm

    I guess I may be in the minority in saying I do not agree with charging this guy considering the unknown circumstances at the time. I do however believe since our President was quoted as saying he would have absolutely went in without a second thought that certain people are not cut from the same cloth. Since I could take a wise guess and say the President was probably lying when he made those claims as usual. So in closing… hindsight is 20/20.

  3. economist on June 5th, 2019 5:49 pm

    Basically he froze! when it actually came time to confront and combat, he froze! apparently he was just there for a “easy” pay check and fatten his pension…he should have hung up the badge and gun years ago and allowed someone else who could have handled the job better…

  4. Denise on June 5th, 2019 10:29 am

    I also feel sorry if has a wife and children. The wife will lose all his pension. Unless she makes good money, she will be struggling to stay afloat.

  5. anne 1of2 on June 5th, 2019 9:53 am

    ive him a cell with photos of those who counted on him to protect them plastered on the walls. Many of us get scared but would never abandon children, never!

  6. Fred on June 5th, 2019 7:49 am

    I think he was seized by fear, and unsure what to do – both of which are complete failures in his duty. There comes a time when you realize that you may be hurt or killed, but you act in spite of the fear. If you can’t do that, it’s time to hang up the badge and gun.

  7. rance on June 5th, 2019 3:36 am

    Wonder at what point in his career did he stop caring about to protect and to serve – Those were kids, the public was counting on you.

Written by William Reynolds · Filed Under News