Marjory Stoneman Douglas resource officer arrested for doing 'absolutely nothing' to stop Parkland shooting
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
You are now subscribed
Your newsletter sign-up was successful
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.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
The charges could land Peterson in prison for a maximum of 97 years.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
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.
-
Political cartoons for February 22Cartoons Sunday’s political cartoons include Black history month, bloodsuckers, and more
-
The mystery of flight MH370The Explainer In 2014, the passenger plane vanished without trace. Twelve years on, a new operation is under way to find the wreckage of the doomed airliner
-
5 royally funny cartoons about the former prince Andrew’s arrestCartoons Artists take on falling from grace, kingly manners, and more
-
Maxwell pleads 5th, offers Epstein answers for pardonSpeed Read She offered to talk only if she first received a pardon from President Donald Trump
-
Hong Kong jails democracy advocate Jimmy LaiSpeed Read The former media tycoon was sentenced to 20 years in prison
-
Ex-Illinois deputy gets 20 years for Massey murderSpeed Read Sean Grayson was sentenced for the 2024 killing of Sonya Massey
-
Sole suspect in Brown, MIT shootings found deadSpeed Read The mass shooting suspect, a former Brown grad student, died of self-inflicted gunshot wounds
-
France makes first arrests in Louvre jewels heistSpeed Read Two suspects were arrested in connection with the daytime theft of royal jewels from the museum
-
Trump pardons crypto titan who enriched familySpeed Read Binance founder Changpeng Zhao pleaded guilty in 2023 to enabling money laundering while CEO of the cryptocurrency exchange
-
Thieves nab French crown jewels from LouvreSpeed Read A gang of thieves stole 19th century royal jewels from the Paris museum’s Galerie d’Apollon
-
Arsonist who attacked Shapiro gets 25-50 yearsSpeed Read Cody Balmer broke into the Pennsylvania governor’s mansion and tried to burn it down
