The jury found that a resource officer, Scot Pettison, was guilty of seven counts of felony neglect of children. This occurred after law enforcement officers failed to act during the violent rampage at Stoneman Douglas high school.
Peterson was found innocent of all seven counts for felony neglect after a multi-year trial.
The prosecution emphasized that Peterson could have saved multiple people from being killed by the shooting if he had reacted properly.
The defense pointed out that the situation was rapidly evolving and Peterson did not know where the shots were coming or if multiple shooters were involved.
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Broward State Attorney Harold F. Pryor has defended the decision of prosecuting Peterson, after he had been acquitted. He said that it was ‘not politically’ to ‘expect somebody to do their work’.
Ryan Petty, the parent of one of those students who died, said that, while Peterson was legally acquitted of all charges, “nothing in today’s ruling absolves Scot Peterson from his failures of February 14, 2018”.
The sister of a Parkland victim said that she was disappointed by the verdict, but it wasn’t shocking to her.
FOX News Reports
Former school security officer Scot Peterson has been found not guilty on all counts in trial over failure to confront the gunman who killed 17 people in Parkland, Florida, in 2018. https://t.co/FgNcrqoSza
— Breaking News (@BreakingNews) June 29, 2023
A Florida jury found Scot Peterson, the former Parkland School Resource Officer, not guilty of all charges.
Peterson was charged with seven counts of felony neglect of children and was the U.S.’s first law enforcement officer to face criminal charges for his alleged inaction in an active school shooting. He was also accused of three counts misdemeanor negligence in relation to adults who were shot in the building. He was also charged with perjury after allegedly lying to the detectives.
Peterson could have been sentenced to prison and lose his $104,000 annual pension, if convicted on the child neglect charges.
Peterson was seen in the courtroom, tearing up as the verdict was read.
