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Deputy Scot Peterson, Who Failed To Act During The Parkland School Shooting, Will Face Charges

By Helen Storms
Published on: 14:56 PST, Jun 4, 2019

It’s impossible to forget the devastating Valentine’s Day mass shooting that took place on February 14, 2018 at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. On a day that was supposed to be focused on love and friendship, a 19-year-old gunman opened fire upon unsuspecting students. While bullets ricocheted off walls and children lost their lives, there was one figure who sought shelter outside, away from the chaos, rather than attempting to help. That person was Deputy Scot Peterson who, in the case of a true emergency, failed to confront the shooter, according to The New York Times.

On that tragic day, 17 high school students were killed and 17 others were injured. Those who were lucky enough to survive the incident have been vocal within the media and online in their support of stricter gun laws. Now, parents of those affected by the massacre are demanding answers to questions that involve former Deputy Peterson’s cowardice on the day that their children needed him most. Why didn’t Peterson step in? Why didn’t he do something to protect their children? He is being held accountable for his lack of action now and is facing a long list of charges in connection with that day.

The 56-year-old former deputy was suspended following the 2018 attack. He has recently been arrested and taken into the Broward County jail with his bail set at $102,000. His list of charges is lengthy, including 11 charges of neglect of a child, culpable negligence, and perjury.

Parkland citizen Fred Guttenberg has been outspoken regarding the topic of gun control since his daughter Jaime was murdered during the 2018 attack. On Twitter, he held nothing back when addressing Peterson. He pointed out that it wasn’t merely that Peterson had failed to take action, but that he had failed to tell the truth about it following the incident.

“I have no comment except to say rot in hell. 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.”

It has since been revealed that Peterson committed perjury while under oath when he stated that he hadn’t heard shots fired prior to his arrival at the 1200 building, except for the initial few shots. This would have at least explained his lack of action for the beginning portion of the shooting. However, it was later determined that he was well aware that the shooting was taking place, yet still neglected to do anything.

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