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Scot Peterson Faces Court on Parkland School Shooting Neglect Charges How the Parkland School Shooting Transformed Florida Politics
(about 11 hours later)
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — Scot Peterson, the former sheriff’s deputy and school resource officer at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., made his first court appearance on Wednesday on charges connected with failing to protect students during the mass shooting there on Feb. 14, 2018. FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — One horrific afternoon at a Parkland, Fla., high school changed the politics of this state.
He appeared for a bond hearing in magistrates court in Fort Lauderdale via video link from the Broward County Jail. For 16 months, Florida has been grappling with issues raised by the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. There have been official investigations into what occurred, legislative debates about how to reduce the chances of another attack, and on Tuesday, the dramatic charging of a school resource officer who retreated rather than run into the school.
The attack, one of the worst school shootings in United States history, left 17 students, teachers and staff members dead. An additional 17 people were wounded. In an unusual prosecution launched Tuesday, the authorities charged Mr. Peterson, 56, with seven counts of felony neglect of a child, culpable negligence and perjury. “I can think of few things that have impacted Florida and captured the attention of the Legislature in the way that Parkland has,” said Steve Schale, a Democratic strategist who helped Parkland students and parents navigate the Legislature. “Parkland still very much has legs in the political discourse.”
The former deputy, who was the only armed guard on campus but retreated to a position of safety during the attack, was found to have done “absolutely nothing to mitigate” the carnage, according to law enforcement officials following an investigation by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. In the months after a shooting that left 17 dead, the issues of guns and school safety came up in elections across the state. Candidates detailed their positions on how they would help head off a similar rampage.
He was booked into the county jail on a bond of $102,000, and appeared from there at Wednesday’s bond hearing wearing a beige jail uniform, showing no sign of emotion. Faced with Parkland’s grim distinction as one of the deadliest school shootings in American history, some Republicans shifted their positions and signed the state-level gun bill — without paying a political price.
[Here are the three crucial steps officials say Scot Peterson missed] “Before Parkland, the idea that the Florida Legislature would pass legislation that contained gun control was unthinkable. And not one of the Republicans that signed the bill lost in their primary,” Mr. Schale said. “Not even Democrats were talking about gun control statewide 10 years ago. This changed the whole conversation.”
During the hearing, his lawyers raised the issue of whether Mr. Peterson, who had worked as a school resource officer for eight years, met the statutory definition of “caregiver.” The criminal statutes under which Mr. Peterson was charged for his behavior during the shooting were not specifically drafted for law enforcement officers and are usually applied to parents. Police officers are not thought of as caregivers for children, legal experts said. Jared Moskowitz, a former state legislator who shepherded Florida’s most aggressive gun measures in years, said the Parkland shooting helped to shape contemporary politics.
The lawyers also asked if Mr. Peterson could travel to North Carolina to retrieve his passport so that it could be surrendered to satisfy one of the conditions to gaining bond. The judge denied both requests, and the hearing was over in a matter of minutes. “Maybe we won’t be talking about it in 30 years, but for now, it’s woven into Florida’s fabric,” said Mr. Moskowitz, a graduate of Stoneman Douglas High. “Parkland forced elected officials to weigh in on school safety and gun reform. If you didn’t before, you do now because it’s the right thing to do.”
Afterward, his defense lawyer, Joseph DiRuzzo of Fort Lauderdale, said he expected that his client would be able to post bond and be released. The fallout of the shooting was immediate, both in Tallahassee and in Broward County. Days after the shooting, investigators focused on the action — or inaction — of Scot Peterson, the only armed guard on campus. A far-reaching gun control measure was adopted last year and a new measure to arm teachers was recently approved. Gov. Ron DeSantis, who was elected in November, replaced the Broward County sheriff, Scott Israel, over his handling of the massacre.
Much of Parkland’s lingering influence comes from the high-profile activism of the student survivors and the parents of the victims. They demanded accountability from their elected officials and made the case that there were a number of missed signs of the threat posed by the gunman, who was a former student. They also expressed rage at the missteps that were revealed about the official response.
The arrest of Mr. Peterson, 56, on seven counts of felony neglect of a child, as well as culpable negligence and perjury charges, was the most significant step yet to hold someone responsible for the mass shooting.
Mr. Peterson made his first court appearance on Wednesday. He appeared for a bond hearing in magistrates court in Fort Lauderdale via video link from the Broward County Jail.
Following an investigation by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, the former deputy, who was the only armed guard on campus but retreated to a position of safety during the attack, was found to have done “absolutely nothing to mitigate” the carnage, according to law enforcement officials.
After Wednesday’s bail hearing, Mr. Peterson’s lawyer, Joseph DiRuzzo III, said he expected that his client would be able to post the $102,000 bond and be released.
“We are waiting for the case to be assigned to a circuit criminal judge. We intend to file a motion to reduce bond and a motion to modify the terms of pretrial release,” he told reporters, adding that he was “anticipating it shouldn’t take very long.”“We are waiting for the case to be assigned to a circuit criminal judge. We intend to file a motion to reduce bond and a motion to modify the terms of pretrial release,” he told reporters, adding that he was “anticipating it shouldn’t take very long.”
“We expect Mr. Peterson to be treated fairly, just like every other person,” he said. Parkland parents greeted the news of the arrest with weary relief.
Experts say that criminally charging a law enforcement officer for negligence in his response to a mass shooting is new ground. “I think it’s a good step forward in our search for accountability,” said Ryan Petty, whose daughter, Alaina, was killed in the shooting.
“This is the first time I have seen somebody so charged like this,” Clinton R. Van Zandt, a former profiler with the F.B.I. and an expert on mass shootings, said. “I think that every police officer, sheriff and F.B.I. agent understands that you have to go to the threat and stop it and that we are no longer going to wait for SWAT or set up perimeters.”