{"id":25600,"date":"2023-06-29T17:32:20","date_gmt":"2023-06-29T21:32:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/?p=25600"},"modified":"2023-06-29T17:33:04","modified_gmt":"2023-06-29T21:33:04","slug":"scot-peterson-not-guilty-over-parkland-school-shooting-response","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/2023\/06\/29\/scot-peterson-not-guilty-over-parkland-school-shooting-response\/","title":{"rendered":"Scot Peterson not guilty over Parkland school shooting response"},"content":{"rendered":"
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A former sheriff’s deputy has been found not guilty of failing to protect students when a gunman opened fire at a Florida high school in 2018.<\/b><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Scot Peterson stayed outside during the attack at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, near Miami.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Mr Peterson, the school’s resource officer, was found not guilty of 11 charges including felony child neglect, culpable negligence and perjury.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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The attack, among the deadliest at a US school, saw 17 killed and 17 injured.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Mr Peterson began sobbing as the unanimous verdicts were read out in court in Fort Lauderdale, before being embraced by his lawyer.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Prosecutors had argued that Mr Peterson failed to follow his training during the attack on 14 February 2018.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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But the defence focused on Mr Peterson’s long career, arguing that he was confused about the location of the shots, and that he was not a “caregiver” under a law typically used to prosecute parents or day care providers when children are hurt while under their care.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Mr Peterson is believed to be the first US officer charged with failing to respond to a school shooting, according to the National Association of School Resource Officers.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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A Florida Department of Law Enforcement investigation found he “did absolutely nothing to mitigate” the shooting. Critics, including then President Donald Trump, branded him a coward.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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He retired after 32 years as a deputy in the aftermath of the attack and was charged in June 2019.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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There is no law that requires a police officer to put themselves in the line of fire, or risk their lives during a shooting, so prosecutors chose to charge him with felony child negligence. The case hinged on whether Mr Peterson had a legal obligation to try to stop the killer.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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