The Florida deputy who failed to confront a gunman during last year’s Parkland massacre has been arrested on 11 charges, prosecutors said Tuesday. Scot Peterson, 56, faces child neglect, culpable negligence and perjury charges, State Attorney Mike Satz said in the announcement.
Peterson, then a Broward County deputy, was on duty during the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School but never went inside. Satz said the charges carry a combined prison sentence of nearly 100 years. Peterson’s bail was set at $102,000. Once released, Peterson will be required to wear a GPS monitor and surrender his passport, and will be prohibited from possessing a firearm, the prosecutor said.
Nikolas Cruz, 20, faces the death penalty if convicted of killing 17 people and wounding 17 others in the attack. He has offered to plead not guilty in return for a life sentence, but prosecutors have refused that offer. Peterson, the only armed officer at the school the day of the attack, was seen on video remaining outside the school building as shots rang out.
The charges against Peterson follow a 14-month investigation by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, according to that agency.
“The FDLE investigation shows former deputy Peterson did absolutely nothing to mitigate the MSD shooting that killed 17 children, teachers and staff and injured 17 others,” FDLE Commissioner Rick Swearingen in an email statement said. “There can be no excuse for his complete inaction and no question that his inaction cost lives.”
Broward Sheriff Gregory Tony said Peterson has been formally terminated, although Peterson announced his retirement shortly after the shooting. Tony announced Wednesday that Peterson and Sergeant Brian Miller have been terminated following an internal investigation into the actions of seven deputies the day of the massacre because Peterson and Miller “were found to have neglected their duties at MSD High School.”
“It’s never too late for accountability and justice,” Tony said.
Peterson’s attorney, Joseph DiRuzzo, said in a statement his client could not be prosecuted on child neglect, negligence charges because he was not a “caregiver” of the students, which he defined as a parent, adult household member, or other person responsible for a child’s welfare.”
He said, “the State’s actions appear to be nothing more than a thinly veiled attempt at politically motivated retribution against Mr. Peterson as no other individual employed at the Broward Sheriff’s Office or Marjorie Stoneman Douglas High School has been criminally charged.”
The Peterson arrest is the latest fallout from the Valentine’s Day 2018 shooting. Gov. Ron DeSantis suspended then-Sheriff Scott Israel for “neglect of duty and incompetence” over the department’s actions that day. Israel is appealing that decision to the state Senate and said he intends to run again next year.
The case also spawned a state commission that issued a 458-page report detailing a litany of errors before and during the shooting, including unaggressive Broward deputies who stayed outside the school building and the policies that led to that – such as Israel’s decision to change guidelines so that deputies “may” confront an active shooter rather than “shall” do so.
The commission also recommended voluntary arming of teachers, which state lawmakers approved this year.
Peterson drew heavy criticism in November meeting as commissioners watched a presentation on his actions. The commission believes Peterson could have prevented at least six deaths if he entered the building immediately.
“He was a cop in name only,” Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd said at the time. “If he had been a real cop, he would have run in there with that gun.”
Peterson, who was a no-show at the meeting, earlier told investigators he heard only two or three shots, and didn’t know whether they were coming from inside or outside the three-story freshman building. That is contradicted by radio calls in which he correctly identifies the building as the shooter’s location. Bullets also came out a window almost directly above where he took cover. About 150 shots were fired.
The chairman of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Public Safety Commission, Pinellas County Sheriff Bob Gualtieri, said in an interview that the charges against Peterson are “absolutely warranted.”
“Scott Peterson is a coward, a failure and a criminal,” Gualtieri said. “There is no doubt in my mind that because he didn’t act, people were killed.”
Fred Guttenberg, whose daughter Jaime was killed in the massacre, tweeted Tuesday: “I have no comment except to say rot in hell Scott [sic] Peterson.”
“You could have saved my daughter,” the tweet read. “You did not and then you lied about it and you deserve the misery coming your way.”
