A Florida sheriff’s deputy was acquitted on Thursday of felony child neglect and other charges for failing to act during the 2018 Parkland school massacre, The Associated Press reported.
Former Broward County Deputy Scot Peterson wept as the verdicts were read. The jury had deliberated for 19 hours over four days.
The campus deputy at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, Peterson had been charged with failing to confront shooter Nikolas Cruz during his six-minute attack inside a three-story 1200 classroom building on Feb. 14, 2018, that left 17 dead.
Peterson, who resigned after the investigation against him was launched, could have received nearly 100 years in prison, although a sentence even approaching that length would have been highly unlikely given the circumstances and his clean record. He also could have lost his $104,000 annual pension.
Prosecutors, during their two-week presentation, called to the witness stand students, teachers and law enforcement officers who testified about the horror they experienced and how they knew where Cruz was. Some said they knew for certain that the shots were coming from the 1200 building. Prosecutors also called a training supervisor who testified Peterson did not follow protocols for confronting an active shooter.
During his two-day presentation, Peterson’s attorney called several deputies who arrived during the shooting and students and teachers who testified they did not think the shots were coming from the 1200 building. Peterson, who did not testify, has said that because of echoes, he could not pinpoint the shooter’s location.
Peterson’s attorney also emphasized the failure of the sheriff’s radio system during the attack, which limited what Peterson heard from arriving deputies.
In November of 2022, Cruz was formally sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. A month earlier, a jury failed to unanimously recommend the death penalty for Cruz.
The FBI admitted after the 2018 shooting it had received a tip that Cruz had a "desire to kill" and access to guns and could be plotting an attack, but agents failed to investigate.