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The former sheriff's deputy who fled to safety during the Parkland school massacre broke down in court today when a jury found him not guilty. 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 February 14, 2018, that left 17 dead. He could have received nearly 100 years in prison, although a sentence even approaching that...

Scot Peterson, the retired school resource officer for Majorie Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, is on trial for seven counts of child neglect (felonies), three counts of culpable negligence (misdemeanors), and one count of perjury. On the afternoon of February 14, 2018, a 19-year-old with a long history of anti-social behavior murdered 17 people and injured 17 others in Parkland, Florida at the Marjorie Stoneman Douglas High School. Parkland is located in Broward County. The school resource officer at Marjorie Stoneman Douglas High School was Broward County Sheriff’s Deputy Scot Peterson.The 19-year-old murderer had been seen entering campus...

School safety advocate Andrew Pollack, who lost his daughter in the Parkland, Florida shooting, pleaded with parents to take matters into their own hands in light of the Nashville school shooting, which claimed the lives of three adults and three children on Monday. “A lot of these shootings, even the one that [just] took place, was avoidable in my eyes,” Pollack, whose daughter Meadow and 16 others were killed when a gunman opened fire at her school in Parkland in 2018, told Fox News on Tuesday. “What we’re failing to note here is that parents need to wake up and...

Gun control activists swarmed the Capitol on Thursday, disrupting a congressional hearing concerning possible efforts made by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives to curb Americans' Second Amendment rights. The Capitol Police indicated that they had given protesters who had been illegally blocking traffic outside the Capitol multiple warnings to clear the street. Seven individuals who failed to do so were charged with crowding, obstructing, or incommoding. Gun control activists also threw a fit inside the Capitol, shouting through a hearing entitled "ATF's Assault on the Second Amendment," held by a subcommittee of the House Judiciary Committee, reported...

Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, was placed on lockdown Wednesday after receiving a “suspicious phone call” one day after the fifth anniversary of the massacre that left 17 dead. The school sent a notification to parents informing them that the school was under a “secure code” and that no one was permitted on the campus at that time, according to WPLG. School officials also said that there was an additional police presence in the area. “No immediate threat has been identified at this time, and students and staff are safe,” Broward County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Gerdy St....

She joined the FBI after watching the World Trade Center collapse before her eyes, leaving a lucrative job at a hedge fund.As a Special Agent in Miami, she worked on many high-profile cases and won awards and accolades for her hard work and diligence.Last year she resigned in disgust. The FBI had turned its sights from fighting crime to fighting Americans’ freedoms.Former FBI Special Agent Nicole Parker broke down in tears Thursday while testifying during a congressional hearing.Parker said during the Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government’s inaugural hearing that she left her job at a hedge...

CLEVELAND – A Parkland, Florida, man pleaded guilty on Tuesday, Jan. 24, 2023, to devising a scheme that defrauded several companies involved in the sale of polymers, including one business in Northeast Ohio, and multiple logistic companies, causing losses of more than $4.1 million. According to court documents, from July 2013 to January 2020, Terrence Anderson, 66, devised a scheme to steal shipments of polymers from businesses involved in the sale of the chemicals. The scheme was achieved, in part, by fraudulently obtaining services from logistic companies involved in processing rail shipments. Court documents show that Anderson owned and operated...

Judge Calls Out Parkland Defense for Laughing and Flipping the Bird in Court Judge Elizabeth Scherer called out Parkland shooter's defense table for their behavior during the trial. "When these people are upset about specific things that have gone on from that table, like shooting the middle finger up at this court and laughing and joking," the judge said.

(Posted as Vanity as not a sourced news story yet.) The Judge lowers the BOOM! "Go sit down!": Parkland Judge Elizabeth Scherer reprimanded chief assistant public defender David Wheeler and dismissed him after he brought up her children. "To try to threaten my children and bring up my children is inappropriate," the judge said.

The three jurors who voted against the death penalty for Parkland killer Nikolas Cruz did so based on “mitigating circumstances” from Cruz’s life. They made the wrong call, but their rationale is superior to the reason many will agree with the sentence: a blanket opposition to the death penalty. Public support for capital punishment has slid over the last 30 years, remaining a majority opinion but barely so. Those who oppose death as a punishment often have kind, even noble intentions. Yet their well-meaning beliefs do not translate into justice or the common good. The death penalty is consistent with...

Prosecutors of Florida school shooter Nikolas Cruz called for an investigation Friday after a juror said another panelist threatened her during the deliberations that ended with a life sentence for Cruz's murder of 17 people four years ago at Parkland's Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. Prosecutor Carolyn McCann told Circuit Judge Elizabeth Scherer during a brief hearing that prosecutors are not trying to invalidate Thursday's jury vote and reported the threat only for safety reasons and so the Broward County Sheriff's Office can investigate. In their written motion asking for the hearing, prosecutors said the juror told them another juror...

David Hogg, a survivor of the 2018 Parkland school shooting and co-founder of March for Our Lives, will be the keynote speaker at Cal Poly’s annual Student Leadership Institute conference on Friday. The theme of this year’s one-day conference is “Amplify the Voices of All Leaders,” and it is open to students only. It will be held from 12 to 6:30 p.m. in the campus’ multi-activity center in the Recreation Center. “The Student Leadership Institute will bring students from a variety of experience levels together to learn from each other and explore topics that are rich and relevant to our...

Gina Montalto’s parents simply clutched hands and cried as it was announced Thursday that a Florida jury recommended the Parkland school shooter should not be condemned to death. Tony Montalto, Gina’s father and president of the advocacy group Stand with Parkland, called it “yet another gut punch for so many of us who devastatingly lost our loved ones on that tragic Valentine’s Day at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.” “Seventeen beautiful lives were cut short, by murder, and the monster that killed them gets to live to see another day,” Montalto said in a statement, echoing the sentiments of other...

Jurors recommended Nikolas Cruz be sentenced to life in prison without parole for killing 17 people and wounding 17 others at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School on Feb. 14, 2018. The panel of seven men and five women deliberated for little more than a day before handing up the recommendation. Victims' family members in the courtroom gallery scowled, shook their heads or wept as circuit judge Elizabeth Scherer read the recommendation Thursday.

LIVE Jury reaches decision in Nikolas Cruz sentencing trial: Live updates. 15 mins ago (Looks like NO death penalty. )

The verdict re Nikolas Cruz school shooter at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School has been reached and will be announced at 10:30 EDT.

WATCH LIVE: Attorneys gather again after jurors come back with 3 questions in Parkland case Jury began deliberating 3 hours ago in the Nikolas Cruz, Margerie Stoneman Douglas school shooting at Parkland, Florida.

PARKLAND, Fla. (WPLG) – The 39-year-old principal of a charter school in Parkland is facing criminal charges after she allegedly brought two guns to school over the summer, Local 10 News learned Tuesday. The guns were discovered on the campus of Somerset Parkland Academy K-8, located at 8401 University Drive, on June 2.

The sentencing trial of Parkland school shooter Nikolas Cruz is being delayed as Hurricane Ian threatens to slam Florida. Circuit Judge Elizabeth Scherer postponed the trial — which was expected to continue through the rest of the week — until Monday. The state began making its rebuttal case on Tuesday and was expected to resume its arguments on Wednesday, Thursday and a half-day Friday. However the Broward County Courthouse where Cruz’s trial is underway will be closed at least on Wednesday and Thursday due to “the potential impact of Hurricane Ian,” the county clerk’s website states. The state is seeking...

At this time, the defense rests," Melisa McNeill declared. "We're not playing chess," said Broward County (Florida) Circuit Judge Elizabeth Scherer, visibly annoyed. "This is the most uncalled for, unprofessional way to try the case." The court had expected 40 more defense witnesses to take the stand when McNeill made the unexpected announcement. Because of the lack of advance warning, prosecutors had not prepared rebuttal witnesses, and the jurors would have to be sent home. I honestly have never experienced [this] level of unprofessionalism in my career. It's, it's unbelievable," the judge fumed. When McNeill tried to defend herself on...