BCSO deputy Scot Peterson outside as gunman murders students inside Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School

Scot Peterson is an American former sheriff's deputy who was involved in the events of the 2018 high school shooting incident at

Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School (MSDH or MSD) is a State school, public Secondary school, high school in Parkland, Florida, United States. It was established in 1990 and is part of the Broward County Public Schools district. It is named aft ...

in the Broward suburban town of

Parkland, Florida Parkland is a suburban city, 42 miles northwest of Miami, in northern Broward County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of Parkland was 34,670. Parkland is part of the Miami metropolitan area, which was home to 6,166 ...

. At the time of the shooting, he was a

Broward County Sheriff's Office The Broward County Sheriff's Office (BSO) is a public safety organization With 5,400 employees, it is the largest sheriff's department in the state of Florida. Sheriff Gregory Tony heads the agency. BSO was one of the United States' largest fully ...

deputy sheriff. In 2023, Peterson stood trial for multiple charges including felony

child neglect A form of child abuse, child neglect is an act of caregivers (e.g., parents) that results in depriving a child of their basic needs, such as the failure to provide adequate supervision, health care, clothing, or housing, as well as other physica ...

and

culpable negligence Endangerment is a type of crime involving conduct that is wrongful and reckless or wanton, and likely to produce death or grievous bodily harm to another person. There are several kinds of endangerment, each of which is a criminal act that can b ...

in relation to his inactivity during the school shooting. Before the trial, commentators had stated that a guilty verdict in his trial might have set a precedent for the legal status of policing in America. On June 29, 2023, Peterson was

acquitted In common law jurisdictions, an acquittal certifies that the accused is free from the charge of an offense, as far as criminal law is concerned. The finality of an acquittal is dependent on the jurisdiction. In some countries, such as the ...

on all charges.

Prior events

SRO Peterson, who was armed, on-site and in uniform as a Broward Sheriff's Office deputy, was accused of remaining outside Building12 during the shooting. Eight days after the attack, he was

suspended without pay Suspension is paid or unpaid time away from the workplace as ordered by the employer in order for a workplace investigation to take place, or as a disciplinary measure for infractions of company policy. It is also a temporary exclusion from schoo ...

by Sheriff Israel, and he immediately retired. Sheriff Israel said "Scot Peterson was absolutely on campus for this entire event", and that he should have "gone in, addressed the killer, ndkilled the killer". A statement released by Peterson's lawyer before he was charged said that Peterson believed the shooting was happening outside the building. According to the lawyer, Peterson claimed he told this to the first

Coral Springs Coral Springs, officially the City of Coral Springs, is a city in Broward County, Florida, United States. The city is located approximately northwest of Fort Lauderdale. As of the 2020 U.S. Census, the city had a population of 134,394. It is a ...

police officer who arrived on scene. The statement also pointed to radio transmissions that indicated a gunshot victim near the football field. The ''

Miami Herald The ''Miami Herald'' is an American daily newspaper owned by the McClatchy Company and headquartered in Doral, Florida, a List of communities in Miami-Dade County, Florida, city in western Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County and the M ...

'' transcribed radio dispatches that Peterson said at 2:23 during the shooting, "Be advised we have possible, could be firecrackers. I think we have shots fired, possible shots fired—1200 building." Seconds later, Peterson radioed: "We're talking about the 1200 building; it's going to be the building off Holmberg Road. Get the school locked down, gentlemen!" At 2:25, he radioed that "We also heard it's by—inside the 1200." At an unspecified time, Peterson called for police to ensure that "no one comes inside the school." At 2:27, at Building12, he radioed, "Stay at least 500 feet away at this point." At an unspecified time, Peterson ordered: "Do not approach the 12– or 1300 building; stay at least 500feet away." On , the sheriff's office released video footage in compliance with a court order. The video was captured by school surveillance cameras and showed some of Peterson's movements during the shooting.

Legal

In June 2019, following an investigation that included interviews with 184 witnesses, Peterson was arrested and then bonded out for the crime of failing to protect the students during the shooting. In June 2023, Peterson was tried in court on multiple charges regarding the events related to the shooting. He faced 11 charges, including multiple counts of

neglect of a child A form of child abuse, child neglect is an act of caregivers (e.g., parents) that results in depriving a child of their basic needs, such as the failure to provide adequate supervision, health care, clothing, or housing, as well as other physica ...

and

, and one count of

perjury Perjury (also known as foreswearing) is the intentional act of swearing a false oath or falsifying an affirmation to tell the truth, whether spoken or in writing, concerning matters material to an official proceeding."Perjury The act or an inst ...

. In 2019, Peterson had pleaded not guilty and filed a motion to have all charges dropped. However, the motion was denied and jury selection started on May 31, 2023. On June 29, 2023, after four days of deliberations, jurors acquitted Peterson on all counts. In July 2023, a judge approved for a re-enactment of the shooting inside the building as part of a civil lawsuit against Peterson. The re-enactment was going be recorded to be reviewed by the court and was planned to include the same type of weapons and ammo used, but with blanks instead of live ammunition. However live ammunition ended up being used instead. Peterson's legal team requested that the lawsuit brought against him by the victims’ survivors and families be dismissed in December, 2023. The judge took the arguments under advisement and indicated that she would issue a ruling soon. If the trial goes forward, it will begin in 2024.

Response

Some commentators had previously stated that a guilty verdict in the trial might have set precedent for the legal status of policing in the United States by determining the legal interpretation of the term "

caregiver A caregiver or carer is a paid or unpaid member of a person's social network who helps them with activities of daily living. Since they have no specific professional training, they are often described as informal caregivers. Caregivers most commo ...

" to include police officers under some circumstances. Other commentators were skeptical about this theory. In the end, this issue was never opened because of Peterson's acquittal. Parents of victims of the shooting were disappointed with the decision of the jury that acquitted Peterson in June 2023 and of Peterson. Some called Peterson a "failure" and "the coward of Broward" while others expressed their concern that he was acquitted and wondered what it would take for a person to be held accountable for their actions.

References

{{Stoneman Douglas High School shooting Peterson, Scot Parkland high school shooting Peterson, Scot Peterson, Scot