Florida deputy faces trial for alleged failure to confront Parkland school shooter

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — In a prosecution considered a national first, a former Florida sheriff's deputy is set to go on trial for failing to confront the shooter who murdered 14 students and three staff members at a Parkland high school. five years ago.

Jury selection begins Wednesday in the trial of former Broward County sheriff's deputy Scot Peterson, who remained outside a three-story classroom at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School during the attack of Nikolas Cruz on February 14, 2018. Opening statements are scheduled for early June, and the trial could last two months.

Peterson, 60, is charged with seven counts of child neglect for killing four students and wounding three on the third floor of the 1200 building. Peterson arrived at the building with his gun drawn 73 seconds before Cruz reached that floor, but instead of entering, he backed away when gunshots rang out. He said he did not know where the shots came from.

Peterson is also charged with three misdemeanor counts of culpable negligence for the adults shot on the third floor, including a teacher and an adult student who died. He also faces a perjury charge for allegedly lying to investigators. He could face nearly a century in prison if convicted of child neglect and lose his $104,000 annual pension.

Former Broward County Sheriff's Deputy Scot Peterson appears in the courtroom for a hearing at the Broward County Courthouse in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, U.S., June 6, 2019. Amy Beth Bennett /South Florida Sun Sentinel/Pool via REUTERS

Prosecutors did not charge Peterson with the 11 killed and 13 injured on the first floor before he arrived in the building. No one was shot on the second floor.

According to the National Association of School Resource Officers, which represents campus police, Peterson is the first U.S. law enforcement officer to be tried for allegedly failing to act during a school shooting. Texas authorities are investigating police officers who failed to confront the Uvalde shooter who killed 19 elementary school students and two teachers last year, but none have been charged.

Peterson “is just a coward,” said his relative Andrew Pollack, calling him an obscenity. Her 18-year-old daughter Meadow was the adult student murdered on the third floor.

“He wouldn’t have come in with full body armor and a bazooka,” Pollack said. Relatives of other victims made similar statements.

Peterson insisted he would have confronted Cruz, but he believed the shots came from a sniper, perhaps firing from nearby trees. An MP for 32 years, he had been at Stoneman Douglas for nine years after 19 years at other schools. He said after a hearing last week that he was “can't wait” for the trial to begin.

“I want the truth to come out, and if it has to come through a trial, so be it,” Peterson said. “Not only the people of Florida, the country, but most importantly the families, need to know the truth about what happened, because unfortunately, it was never told.”

Peterson retired shortly after the shooting, then was retroactively fired.

Robert Jarvis, a law professor at Nova Southeastern University, said there's no doubt Peterson deserves to be fired, but suing him “seems like such an excessive step.”

“Peterson is an easy punching bag, but many, many people failed on Feb. 14,” he said. “Peterson…is being made into a scapegoat.”

To win a conviction, prosecutors must convince jurors that Peterson knew Cruz was shooting inside the building and that his actions and inaction exposed the victims to danger.

Security videos show that 36 seconds after the attack began, Peterson left his office about 300 feet from the 1200 building and jumped into a cart with two unarmed civilian security guards, according to a report from the State. They arrived at the building a minute later.

Peterson got off the cart near the east door leading to the first floor hallway. Cruz was at the other end of the hallway, firing his AR-15 semi-automatic rifle.

Peterson, who was not wearing a bulletproof vest, did not open the door. Instead, he hid 23 meters (75 feet) away in the alcove of a nearby building, his gun still drawn.

The shooting “was so loud and so close. I thought it was probably outside,” Peterson told investigators two days after the massacre.

He said he heard “two, three” gunshots. Security guards told investigators they heard many more gunshots than three and it was clear they came from the building. Peterson's attorney, Mark Eiglarsh, said he will call 22 witnesses who will testify that they also believe the gunshots came from outside the 1200 building.

Inside, Cruz climbed to the upper floors of the building, firing about 70 more shots in nearly four minutes.

Outside, Peterson radioed arriving deputies to stay away from the building. He said he didn't notice when the bullets hit a second-story window about 20 yards from where he was.

Peterson did not leave his place for 48 minutes. It was 45 minutes after the shooting ended and 40 minutes after off-campus police officers burst inside, finding carnage on the first and third floors. Cruz had fled.

For Peterson to be convicted of child neglect, prosecutors must first demonstrate that he was legally a caregiver to the minor students. Florida law defines a caregiver as “a parent, adult household member, or other person responsible for the well-being of a child.”

Eiglarsh argued there is an exemption for most police officers who cover his client. Circuit Judge Martin Fein ruled it was up to the jury to decide, noting that Florida courts have considered babysitters, landlords and even kidnappers to be caregivers.

If jurors find that Peterson was a caregiver, then they must determine whether he made a “reasonable effort” to protect the children or failed to provide the care necessary to maintain their health.

Eiglarsh argued that Cruz possessed a superior firearm and that Peterson would have risked death by pursuing him. The state report says Peterson has taken three active shooter classes over the years that teach tactics needed for such situations.

“I predict at least one juror will decide that even if Peterson was the wrong person, in the wrong place and at the wrong time, holding him criminally responsible is just … too much,” Jarvis said. This would result in a hung jury.

Miami criminal defense attorney David S. Weinstein, a former prosecutor, thinks Peterson will likely testify — something most defendants avoid. Jurors will want to know why Peterson thought his actions were “reasonable or prudent,” he said.

Cruz's jury could not unanimously agree that he deserved the death penalty. The 24-year-old former Stoneman Douglas student was then sentenced to life in prison.