An ex-sheriff’s deputy acquitted of charges of failing to act during the horror Parkland school shooting in 2018 has demanded his former employer pay his legal bills.
Scot Peterson, the Broward Sheriff’s Office (BSO) deputy who was stationed at the school when gunman Nicholas Cruz killed 17 people and injured 17 others, went on a rampage outside the courtroom on Wednesday.
“The BSO must pay my fees because on February 14, 2018, I did absolutely nothing wrong during that horrific shooting,” he said.
Peterson was found not guilty in June 2023 of eleven charges related to the shooting, claiming he believed the shooting took place outside a building where Cruz slaughtered his classmates and teachers.
Former Broward Sheriff’s Office (BSO) Deputy Scot Peterson is demanding that the BSO pay his legal fees after he was found not guilty of failing to act in the 2018 Parkland school shooting
Peterson, seen on surveillance footage during the shooting, was accused of cowering outside a school building as a gunman opened fire inside
Shooter Nicholas Cruz, now serving life without parole, killed seventeen schoolchildren and teachers in the horrific shooting in February 2018
When Cruz opened fire at Marjorie Stoneman Douglas High School, he methodically moved through the three-story 1200 building with an assault rifle.
After the teen killed 11 and injured 13 on the first floor, Peterson arrived on the scene and his charges related to the six dead and four injured on the third floor. There were no casualties on the second floor.
Although peterson said he believed the gunshots occurred outside, the Miami Herald received police radio messages warning that “we’ve had shots fired, possible shots fired – 1,200 buildings.”
Peterson made several more reports that the outlet claimed focused “inside” the building, while also warning law enforcement to stay away from the building as Cruz fled the scene.
“Do not approach building 12 or 1300, stay at least 150 meters away,” he said over the radio, according to the newspaper.
Peterson faced widespread backlash in the aftermath of the school shooting, which ranks as one of the deadliest in American history, as he was labeled the “coward of Broward” by the media.
At his trial, Peterson was found not guilty on charges of child neglect, culpable negligence and perjury, as his claims that he believed the shooting took place outside were reinforced by early reports that a victim was near the school football field.
He burst into tears and thanked the jurors when his acquittal was read out, and filed a complaint against the BSO demanding they pay his legal fees.
Peterson (whom he watched celebrate his acquittal last year) claimed he believed the shooting took place outside the building where the shooter opened fire
A total of 17 people were killed in the shooting. Pictured L-R – Jaime Guttenberg, Nicholas Dworet, Martin Duque, Meadow Pollack, Cara Loughran; Alyssa Alhadeff, Luke Hoyer, Joaquin Oliver, Gina Montalto; Alaina Petty, Carmen Schentrup, Peter Wang, Alex Schachter; Helena Ramsey, Scott Beigel, Aaron Feis, Chris Hixon
The shooting ranks today as one of the deadliest school shootings in American history
The BSO had refused to pay the former deputy’s fees because they claimed that despite his acquittal, Peterson violated their policies that would have led to his firing, but he quit before he could be fired.
That led to Peterson’s lawsuit this week, in which he requested an evidentiary hearing, claiming he could prove he had not violated BSO policy.
“Everything I did was based on my real-time intelligence during that shooting,” he said.
“I have not violated any Broward Sheriff’s Office policies.”
After his acquittal, Peterson’s attorney filed for payment of fees by BSO, but the sheriff’s attorney claimed he never received an itemized invoice for the required legal fees.
The judge ruled that Peterson was ineligible for an evidentiary hearing and recommended that he take the case to civil court.
While Peterson was acquitted, the police response to the shooting caused widespread anger, and has been compared to the same weak response police had to the Uvalde school shooting in Texas.
Medical personnel tend to a victim after a shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School
Shooter Nicholas Cruz was able to escape police by blending in with other students fleeing the scene, with the police response in the aftermath heavily criticized.
After shooting a total of 34 people, Cruz was able to escape police by blending in with other students who fled the scene.
He was not apprehended over an hour later, while police were still at the school.
They were convicted two months later in a scathing police report, which detailed how Coral Springs police officers arrived on the scene and found Broward County Sheriff’s deputies ducking for cover instead of running in to help.
Coral Springs Police Officer Bryan Wilkins said in his report, obtained by the Miami Heraldthat he arrived on the scene within two minutes of the call.
Once there, he found a BSO officer taking cover behind a tree, even though the deputy told him he knew the shooter’s location.
“I saw about four Broward County Sheriff’s Office vehicles parked [on the road outside the school]…with their personnel taking outside positions behind their vehicles,” Wilkins wrote.