The Florida school cop who hid during the deadly mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland will go on trial for negligence, a judge has ruled.
Former Broward County Deputy Scot Peterson, 58, will stand trial on child negligence charges for allegedly cowering outside the school while 17 people — including 14 students — were gunned down inside on Feb. 14, 2018.
Footage from the day of the mass shooting shows Peterson ducking behind a wall outside the school as the shots rang out inside.
He was fired the following year for neglecting his duty and was later arrested and charged.
In court this week, he told the judge that he did the best he could at the time.
“I didn’t do anything there to try to hurt any child there on the scene,” Peterson pleaded. “I did the best that I could with the information.”
“I’ll never forget that day,” he said. “You know, not only kids died. I have friends that died. And never for a second would I sit there and allow anyone to die, knowing that animal was in that building. Never.”
Peterson’s lawyers argued that the state’s child negligence law, which is designed to address the conduct of caregivers, should not apply to Peterson.
But prosecutors countered that school resource officers are considered caregivers.
On Thursday, Broward County Circuit Judge Martin Fein ruled that the jury will make that determination and ordered the case to move forward to trial.
Nikolas Cruz, a former student at the school, is facing the death penalty if convicted of carrying out the shooting, which also injured 17 other students and staffers.
With Post wires