Jury acquits Scot Peterson of felony child neglect, other charges linked to response to deadly 2018 high school attack.
A Florida sheriff’s deputy has been acquitted of felony child neglect and other charges for his actions during the 2018 Parkland school massacre, concluding the first trial in United States history of a law enforcement officer for conduct during an on-campus shooting.
Former Broward County Deputy Scot Peterson wept as the verdicts were read on Thursday. 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 the school’s three-storey 1200 Building on February 14, 2018 that left 17 dead.
He 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.