Two Broward County Sheriff deputies who responded to the mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School were terminated for neglect of duty, Sheriff Gregory Tony said on Wednesday.
Former Broward County Sheriff Deputy Scot Peterson has been charged with child neglect under a statute that applies to caregivers. Legal experts say it's a novel approach that could make the case against him difficult to prove.
Former Broward County, Florida Deputy Scot Peterson, who faces charges over his response to last year's mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, paid a considerably reduced bail Thursday.
Former school resource officer Scot Peterson was widely criticized after he failed to confront a shooter who opened fire and killed 17 people at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School last year.
Former Broward County Sheriff's Deputy Scot Peterson -- who was criticized for how he responded when a gunman opened fire at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School -- has been charged with 11 counts, including felony child neglect charges, authorities said.
Members of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School community welcomed news of criminal charges for a former school resource officer accused of neglecting his duties the day 17 people were killed on his watch.
When Scot Peterson arrived at the 1200 Building, the scene of the Parkland, Florida, school massacre, it was pandemonium and he didn't have time to be scared "because I was doing things the whole time," he said in an interview that aired Tuesday.
The former school resource officer criticized for his response to the Parkland school massacre is receiving more than $8,700 a month in state pension, Florida Department of Management Services spokeswoman Nina Ashley said Wednesday.
The armed resource officer for Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School who didn't enter the building where an active shooting was taking place said through his attorney that he thought the shots were coming from outside. But in dispatch audio of the incident, he said he had heard that it was "by, inside the 1200 building."
An attorney for Stoneman Douglas High School's former resource officer defended the officer's response to the Parkland shooting, saying in a statement Monday that Scot Peterson acted "appropriate under the circumstances."
When Coral Springs police officers arrived at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, on February 14 in the midst of the school shooting crisis, many officers were surprised to find not only that Broward County Sheriff's Deputy Scot Peterson, the armed school resource officer, had not entered the building, but that three other Broward County Sheriff's deputies were also outside the school and had not entered, Coral Springs sources tell CNN. The deputies had their pistols dr
The Florida deputy who waited outside as a gunman targeted staff and students at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, killing 17, was twice nominated as the School Resource Deputy of the Year and won the award in 2014, personnel records obtained by CNN show.
