A former sheriff’s deputy acquitted of charges of failing to act during the horrific 2018 Parkland school shooting has demanded that his former employer pay his legal bills.
Scot Peterson, the Broward Sheriff’s Office (BSO) deputy stationed at the school when gunman Nicholas Cruz killed 17 people and wounded 17 more, ranted outside the courtroom Wednesday.
“The BSO should pay my fees because on February 14, 2018, during that horrible shooting, I did absolutely nothing wrong,” he said.
Peterson was found not guilty in June 2023 of 11 charges related to the shooting, as he alleged that he believed the shooting was occurring outside a building where Cruz massacred his classmates and teachers.
Former Broward Sheriff’s Office (BSO) deputy Scot Peterson is seeking to have BSO pay his legal fees after he was found not guilty of failing to act during the 2018 Parkland school shooting.
Peterson, seen on surveillance footage during the shooting, was accused of hiding outside a school building while a gunman opened fire inside.
Gunman Nicholas Cruz, now serving a life sentence without parole, massacred 17 schoolchildren and teachers during the horrific February 2018 shooting.
When Cruz opened fire at Marjorie Stoneman Douglas High School, he moved methodically through the three-story 1200 building with an assault rifle.
After the teen killed 11 and wounded 13 on the first floor, Peterson arrived on the scene and his charges related to the six dead and four wounded on the third floor. There were no victims on the second floor.
Although Peterson said he believed the shooting occurred outside, the The Miami Herald He obtained police radio dispatches in which he was seen warning that “we have shots fired, possible shots fired – building 1200.”
Peterson made several more dispatches that, according to the outlet, focused on “the interior” of the building, as he also warned authorities to stay away from the building as Cruz fled the scene.
“Do not approach building 12 or 1300, stay at least 500 feet away,” he said over the radio, according to the outlet.
Peterson faced widespread backlash following the school shooting, which is one of the deadliest in U.S. history, as the media branded him a “coward from Broward.”
At his trial, Peterson was found not guilty of charges of child neglect, culpable negligence and perjury, as his claims that he believed the shooting occurred outside were bolstered by early reports that a victim was near the field. school football.
He broke down in tears and thanked the jurors as his acquittal was read, and filed a lawsuit against the BSO for his legal fees.
Peterson (seen celebrating his acquittal last year) stated that he believed the shooting occurred outside the building where the gunman opened fire.
A total of 17 people died in the shooting. Pictured from left to right: Jaime Gutenberg, Nicholas Dworet, Martin Duque, Meadow Pollack, Cara Loughran; Alyssa Alhadeff, Luke Hoyer, Joaquín Oliver, Gina Montalto; Alaina Petty, Carmen Schentrup, Peter Wang, Alex Schachter; Helena Ramsey, Scott Beigel, Aaron Feis, Chris Hixon
The shooting is today considered one of the deadliest school shootings in United States history.
The BSO had refused to pay the former deputy’s fees because they claimed that, despite his acquittal, Peterson violated their policies that would have led to his firing, but resigned before they could be fired.
That led to Peterson’s court case this week, when he requested an evidentiary hearing claiming he could prove he did not violate BSO policies.
“Everything I did was based on my real-time intelligence during that shooting,” he said.
“I did not violate a single Broward Sheriff’s Office policy.”
After his acquittal, Peterson’s attorney requested that BSO pay the fees, but the sheriff’s office attorney claimed he never received an itemized bill for legal fees as required.
The judge ruled that Peterson did not qualify for an evidentiary hearing and recommended that he take the matter to civil court.
Although Peterson was acquitted, the police response to the shooting sparked widespread anger and has been compared to the same weak reaction police officers had to the Uvalde school shooting in Texas.
Medical staff treat victim after shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School
Gunman Nicholas Cruz was able to slip past police by mixing with other students fleeing the scene, and the police response was later widely criticized.
After shooting a total of 34 people, Cruz was able to slip past police by mixing with other students fleeing the scene.
He was not arrested until more than an hour later, while police were still at the school.
They were convicted in a damning police report two months later, which noted how Coral Springs police officers arrived at the scene and found Broward County sheriff’s deputies hiding instead of running to help.
Coral Springs Police Officer Bryan Wilkins said in his report, obtained by the The Miami Heraldwho arrived at the scene two minutes after receiving the call.
Once there, he found a BSO agent hiding behind a tree, even though the agent told him he knew the shooter’s location.
‘I saw approximately four Broward County Sheriff’s Office vehicles parked [on the road outside the school]…with their personnel occupying outside positions behind their vehicles,” Wilkins wrote.
