The prosecution and defense in the trial of a Florida sheriff’s school resource officer accused of not preventing some of the Parkland school shooting murders began Wednesday.
Scot Peterson, a former Broward County Deputy, is charged with seven counts of felony child neglect, three counts of misdemeanor culpable negligence, and a perjury charge for statements he made after the shooting, the AP reported.
Peterson’s charges reflect his failure to intervene during the mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, which left 14 students and three staff members dead.
AP reported that Peterson retired after the shooting and was fired from his role retroactively. He was released on bond after being arrested in June 2019.
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Prosecutor Steven Klinger told jurors that former Broward County Deputy Scot Peterson was equipped and could have confronted the shooter, Nicholas Cruz.
“You’ve got to get in there, and you’ve got to find the shooter,” prosecutor Steven Klinger said, according to AP.
Peterson’s attorney, Mark Eiglarsh, claims he didn’t know where the gunfire was coming from or where the shooter was.
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But defense attorney Mark Eiglarsh, in an emotional address, told the jurors that Peterson “was thrown under the bus” to preserve the career of then-Sheriff Scott Israel, who he said needed to find a scapegoat for his department’s failures leading up to the Feb. 14, 2018, shooting.
“A lot of heat was coming his (Israel’s) way,” Eiglarsh said, even after the sheriff said on national television that Peterson and his other deputies did their best with the information they had.
But when political pressure rose, Israel chose to sacrifice Peterson, Eiglarsh said.
He said Israel never even asked Peterson what happened before accusing him publicly about a week after the shooting of failing to act.
“He was not a coward. [Peterson] did everything he possibly could with the limited information he had on hand,” Eiglarsh said.
Peterson is charged with seven counts of felony child neglect for four students killed and three wounded on the third floor of a classroom building.
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