Florida school shooting: Officer Scot Peterson defends actions

BBC News ^ | 27th February 2018 | BBC News

[Ennis85]

The armed school officer branded a coward by President Donald Trump has defended his actions during the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting.

Scot Peterson was outside the school when a gunman killed 17 people, but did not go inside as shots rang out.

His attorney, Joseph DiRuzzo, said his client believed the gunfire was coming from outside the school.

He followed his training by taking cover and prompting a lockdown, the lawyer said.

Mr DiRuzzo said it was "patently untrue" that Mr Peterson was a coward on the day.

Mr Peterson, a veteran officer who had been assigned to guard the high school, resigned last week after his boss, Broward County Sheriff Scott Israel, suspended him without pay.

Sheriff Israel said that footage from the scene had left him "devastated" and "sick to my stomach".

But Mr DiRuzzo accused the sheriff of "at best, gross oversimplification", saying he "jumped to a conclusion" about Mr Peterson's behaviour.

Mr Peterson said he had originally "received a call of firecrackers".

Only when he ran towards the sound, he said, did he realise it was gunshots.

Broward Sheriff's Office had trained him to seek cover and assess the situation in the event of outdoor gunfire, his lawyer said. Mr Peterson did so, and then told the sheriff's office he had heard shots, prompting a "Code Red" lockdown of the school campus.

When police arrived, he told them he thought the gunman was outside - a belief backed up by "radio transmissions [which] indicated that there was a gunshot victim in the area of the football field," Mr Peterson said, according to his lawyer.

His attorney said in a statement: "Let there be no mistake, Mr Peterson wishes

"However, the allegations that Mr Peterson was a coward and that his performance, under the circumstances,

[Boogieman]

“the officer assigned to this duty who was nearing retirement...”

I think that’s probably key to all this. The guy thought he could just coast in this cushy gig for his last year or so on the force, and just wasn’t mentally prepared for a situation like this.

[RedMonqey]

Sorry but this was allowed to happen in order to bring us down

Hanlon's Razor

"Never attribute to Malice that which is adequately explained by Stupidity."

This stinks of rank incompetence.

The goal of of the school system, county and state officials was reduction of student crime STATS(not actual crimes) and by their own goals this was a success(hence Sheriff Israel's self congratulatory statement of being "amazing")

They failed at their constitutional and elected office of educating the students and protecting the general public.

This was rule by "Political Correctness" by any cost.

[MayflowerMadam]

“The way this sheriff is holding back the info”

Israel pretty much said the video won’t ever be released. I think what he means is that it won’t be released until his flunkies have edited it the way he wants.