Florida deputy's legal team says he didn't have an obligation to stop Parkland school shooter

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — A former Florida sheriff claims he had no legal duty to confront the gunman who killed 17 people and injured 17 others at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland nearly six years ago, his attorney argued Monday.

The legal team representing Broward County Deputy Scot Peterson asked a judge to dismiss the lawsuit filed by the victims' families and survivors, even though the decision would likely be derided by the public.

Defense attorney Michael Piper told Judge Carol-Lisa Phillips that under the law his client cannot be charged for anything he did or did not do during the Feb. 14, 2018, massacre. He cited appellate court cases that say police officers have no legal obligation have to protect others from harm from third parties and that they cannot be sued for decisions they make during a crisis.

Piper said that while it may not be a popular decision, the judge should uphold the law and dismiss the lawsuit, which seeks unspecified damages. Lawsuits have also been filed against the Broward Sheriff's Office and two school security guards.

Shooter Nikolas Cruz, a 25-year-old former Stoneman Douglas student, is serving a life sentence for the murders and attempted murders.

“There is a difference between legal duties and what I will call societal expectations,” the sheriff's deputy's lawyer argued. All the public will hear is that Peterson was in a uniform and had a gun, he said, but still, “When confronted with this murderous rampage that's taking place in this three-story building, doesn't he have a duty to to stop?”

“People are outraged,” Piper said, about the idea that a law enforcement officer has no duty. “Yes, that's exactly what we say. That is exactly what the law is.”

But attorney David Brill, speaking on behalf of the families, told the judge that Peterson's actions, both during and before the shooting, fall outside the protection of the law because they were committed in bad faith and with willful negligence. He said Peterson knew Cruz was nicknamed “Crazy Boy” by campus security guards when he was a student two years before the shooting — and that he was considered by school staff to be the only person who could shoot up the school.

Yet he did not have Cruz admitted for mental treatment before the shooting, Brill argued. And just before the shooting — when Peterson learned that Cruz had been spotted on campus with a bag and backpack in his hand — the deputy did not order an immediate lockdown.

“His primary reason for being there was for the safety, health and well-being of the students and faculty,” Brill said of Peterson. “He had a duty to protect the administration, teachers and students from a variety of unreasonable risks, including active shooters.”

Sitting in the gallery, Peterson shook his head and growled disagreeably during Brill's speech. The parents of two students who were killed, 15-year-old Luke Hoyer and 18-year-old Meadow Pollack, sat a few feet behind Peterson, who later moved to the other side of the courtroom.

The hearing took place on Monday afternoon. Judge Phillips is not expected to rule immediately. If the process goes ahead, it is expected to start next year.

In June, Peterson was acquitted of criminal charges of child neglect. It was the first time an American police officer was accused of negligence in a school shooting. Legal experts said the law prosecutors applied was not written to address Peterson's actions.

Security video played during that trial shows that 36 seconds after Cruz's attack began, Peterson left his office about 300 feet (92 meters) from the school building and jumped into a cart with two unarmed civilian guards. A minute later they arrived at the building.

Peterson got out of the cart at the east doorway to the first floor hallway. Cruz stood across the hall and fired his AR-15-style semi-automatic rifle.

Peterson, who was not wearing a bulletproof vest, did not answer the door. Instead, he took cover 75 feet away in the alcove of a neighboring building, his weapon still drawn. He stayed there for 40 minutes, long after the shooting had ended and other police officers had stormed the building.

For nearly three decades, Peterson worked in schools, including nine years at Stoneman Douglas. He retired shortly after the shooting and was subsequently fired retroactively.

Cruz pleaded guilty to the shootings in 2021. In a criminal trial last year, the jury could not unanimously agree that Cruz deserved the death penalty and he was subsequently sentenced to life in prison. Florida subsequently changed its death penalty law so that a judge only needs an 8-4 vote to sentence a convicted murderer to death.