Peterson, who was assigned to the Parkland high school as a “school resource officer” that Valentine’s Day, is facing charges of neglect of a child, culpable negligence and perjury.
“There’s no excuse for his complete inaction and no question that his inaction cost lives,” Florida Department of Law Enforcement Commissioner Rick Swearingen said. “The FDLE investigation shows former Deputy Peterson did absolutely nothing to mitigate the MSD shooting that killed 17 children, teachers and staff and injured 17 others.”
The investigation found that Peterson did not investigate the source of the gunshots, but instead ran away from the shooting while victims were under attack and then directed other law enforcement officers to remain 500 feet away from the building.
Stay on top of Orlando news and views. Sign up for our weekly Headlines newsletter.
Related Stories
This article appears in May 29 – Jun 4, 2019.