Parkland Cop Who Stayed Outside During Shooting Found NOT GUILTY on All Counts, Collapses in Tears as Verdict Read

A Fort Lauderdale jury found former Parkland school resource officer Scot Peterson not guilty on all eleven counts Thursday related to his actions during the February 14, 2018 shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.

The shooter, a former student at the high school, returned to campus armed with an AR-15 rifle and shot and killed 17 people and wounded 17 others. (In accordance with the wishes expressed by numerous family members of the victims to not promote the shooter, I have not used his name.) He was sentenced to life in prison last October, a verdict that was condemned by many family members of the victims.

The 17 people who lost their lives were, in alphabetical order, 14-year-old student Alyssa Alhadeff, 35-year-old teacher Scott Beigel, 14-year-old student Martin Duque Anguiano, 17-year-old student Nicholas Dworet, 37-year-old assistant football coach Aaron Feis, 14-year-old student Jaime Guttenberg, 49-year-old athletic director Christopher Hixon, 15-year-old student Luke Hoyer, 14-year-old student Cara Loughran, 14-year-old student Gina Montalto, 17-year-old student Joaquin Oliver, 14-year-old student Alaina Petty, 18-year-old student Meadow Pollack, 17-year-old student Helena Ramsay, 14-year-old student Alexander Schachter, 16-year-old student Carmen Schentrup, and 15-year-old student Peter Wang.

Prosecutors accused Peterson of disregarding his training and standing by during the shooting, while his defense attorneys argued that he was unable to tell from which direction the shots were c0ming. The specific charges against Peterson related to those who were shot on the third floor of the building, after he arrived on the scene; no one was killed on the second floor and he was not charged for any of the deaths or injuries that occurred on the first floor before he arrived.

Peterson was charged with eleven counts, “including seven felony counts of child neglect and three misdemeanor counts of culpable negligence,” and “a misdemeanor count of perjury for allegedly lying to investigators about the number of gunshots he heard after arriving at the scene and about whether he saw people fleeing the 1200 building, the site of the shooting,” reported CNN. He pled not guilty to all counts.

After the jury returned their verdicts — not guilty on all counts — the judge read each one out loud in the courtroom as Peterson could be seen visibly shaking and crying, collapsing onto the table as his attorney put his arm around him.

Reached for comment shortly after the verdict was read, Ryan Petty, whose daughter Alaina Petty was killed, told Mediaite that “nothing in today’s verdict absolves Scot Peterson of his inaction on February 14, 2018.”

“Peterson was at the door of the building, heard shots and retreated to cover and stood there for 48 minutes while the killer continued his rampage,” Petty added. “Peterson remained behind that cover even after other law enforcement had entered the building and were treating casualties. He will have to live with his failures for the rest of his life.”

Watch above via CNN.

This article has been updated with additional information.

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