Marjory Stoneman Douglas resource officer arrested for doing 'absolutely nothing' to stop Parkland shooting
The Broward County Sheriff's Department has fired Marjory Stoneman Douglas Resource Officer Scot Peterson and Sgt. Brian Miller because they "were found to have neglected their duties" during the February 2018 Parkland shooting, NBC News reports.
Peterson, a former sheriff's deputy for the department, has also been arrested. He was decried nationally as the "coward of Broward" after a report concluded he "retreated to an area of safety" instead of trying to find the source of gunshots during the shooting. Now, after a 15-month Florida Department of Law Enforcement investigation, he has been charged with seven counts of neglect of a child, three counts of culpable negligence, and one count of perjury, the department announced Tuesday.
The shooting left 17 students, teachers, and staff dead. The investigation concluded that Peterson "refused to investigate the source of gunshots," meaning there is "no question that his inaction cost lives," the state's law enforcement commissioner said in Tuesday's statement.
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The charges could land Peterson in prison for a maximum of 97 years.
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Kathryn is a graduate of Syracuse University, with degrees in magazine journalism and information technology, along with hours to earn another degree after working at SU's independent paper The Daily Orange. She's currently recovering from a horse addiction while living in New York City, and likes to share her extremely dry sense of humor on Twitter.
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