PARKLAND, Fla. (AP) — A police officer stormed into a high school building during the 2018 Parkland event Shoot testified Friday that a sheriff’s deputy outside confirmed the shooter was upstairs.
Former Broward County Assemblyman Scot Peterson is on trial for failing to confront the shooters 17 people killed at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High. Since speaking to investigators two days after the massacre, he has insisted that he cannot say where the shots came from and that he believes they may have been fired outside.
On the third day of Peterson’s trial, Coral Springs officer Richard Best recounted what Peterson allegedly told him outside the classroom: WPLG TV reported.
“I said, ‘Hey bro, what do we have?'” Best told the judges. “He said, ‘Gun shots on the second or third floor.'”
Peterson, 60, could face nearly a century in prison if convicted.
“It goes without saying that the longer you wait, the greater the damage,” Best said. “Anytime you hear a shot, there’s a chance someone’s dead.”
Peterson is accused of failing to confront gunman Nikolas Cruz before the gunman reached the third floor of the building, where he killed six people. The deputy will not be charged in connection with the 11 deaths on the first floor before reaching the building.
Peterson reached the building, gun drawn, 73 seconds before Cruz reached the third floor. Peterson took cover in an alcove of a neighboring building 75 feet (23 meters) away, gun drawn. He didn’t leave his seat for about 40 minutes — about 35 minutes after the shooting stopped.
Arman Borghei, who was a student on the third floor of the building during the shooting, said he looked out a window and spotted Peterson below, gun drawn.
Borghei said he was “really scared and wondering when help would arrive,” but never saw Peterson approach the building.
Best stated that he considers it his duty to risk his life to ward off a threat and render assistance.
“It’s not like I want to go in there alone as a cop,” Best said. “But that’s our training — to go in.”
The most serious allegations against Peterson are seven cases of child neglect.
In order for Peterson to be convicted of child neglect, prosecutors must first prove that he was lawfully a custodian of the underage students — defined under Florida law as “a parent, adult household member, or other person responsible for the well-being of a child.” is”.
If the jury finds Peterson was a caregiver, they must determine whether he made “reasonable efforts” to protect the children or failed to provide necessary care.
Peterson is the first US law enforcement officer ever to be charged with alleged failure to act during a school shooting. So did the Texas authorities are investigating officers in the town of Uvalde, who was not confronted with the gunman who killed 19 primary school students and two teachers last year. However, no one has been charged.
The trial began Wednesday and is expected to take up to two months.
Cruz, 24, pleaded guilty last year received a life sentence.