Former School Resource Officer Faces Felony Charges For Lack of Effort During Parkland Shooting

Former Broward County Sheriff’s Deputy Scot Peterson was arrested on Tuesday for failing to attempt to protect students during the 2018 mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida.

Peterson was the school resource officer at the time of the tragic shooting that took the lives of 17 and has since been charged with 11 counts, including child neglect, culpable negligence, and perjury, as a result of an investigation by Florida Department of Law Enforcement. He was booked into Broward County Jail, and his bail will be set at $102,000, authorities said. 

According to CNN, days after the shooting, footage surfaced of the former deputy standing outside Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School during the massacre, instead of trying to apprehend the gunman, who fired at students and staff inside. 

“The F.D.L.E. investigation shows former Deputy Peterson did absolutely nothing to mitigate the M.S.D. shooting that killed 17 children, teachers and staff and injured 17 others,” department commissioner, Rick Swearingen, said in an official statement. “There can be no excuse for his complete inaction and no question that his inaction cost lives.”

Peterson was fired during a disciplinary hearing on Tuesday by Sheriff Gregory Tony. Although he retired after the Parkland shooting and prior to his arrest, the results of the hearing could affect Peterson’s current pension, Tony said. 

For the father of Jaime Gutenberg, a victim of the shooting, charges against Peterson are what he deserves. 

“I have no comment except to say rot in hell, Scot Peterson,” Fred Guttenberg said. “You could have saved some of the 17. You could have saved my daughter. You did not, and then you lied about it, and you deserve the misery coming your way.”