The Broward deputy accused of being a coward for hiding outside and failing to run into the school while students were being massacred in Parkland says that’s NOT what happened:
NY POST – The Florida sheriff’s deputy who did nothing as a killer stalked the halls of Marjory Stoneman Douglas HS spoke out for the first time Monday, saying he’s not a coward, according to a report.
Deputy Scot Peterson — who resigned in disgrace from his position as a school resource officer last week — said through a lawyer that he believed the shooter was outside the high school and that protocol demanded he “seek cover,” according to the Miami Herald.
“[He] heard gunshots but believed those gunshots were originating from outside of the buildings on the school campus,” his Fort Lauderdale-based lawyer, Joseph DiRuzzo, said in a statement.
“Broward Sheriff’s Office trains its officers that in the event of outdoor gunfire one is to seek cover and assess the situation in order to communicate what one observes with other law enforcement,” it notes. “[His actions] were appropriate under the circumstances.”
“Allegations that Mr. Peterson was a coward and that his performance, under the circumstances, failed to meet the standards of police officers are patently untrue,” DiRuzzo said in the statement.
Peterson claims he took cover after responding to a report that firecrackers were going off at he school, his lawyer said. The deputy claims he told the first Coral Springs officer who arrived on the scene that he thought “the shots were coming from outside,” according to the statement.
“Radio transmissions indicated that there [was] a gunshot victim in the area of the football field, which served to confirm Mr. Peterson’s belief that the shooter, or shooters, were outside,” it notes.
It’s not just news reports targeting former deputy Peterson. His own Sheriff accused him of dereliction of duty and then Peterson resigned that same day.
Now I know news reports are sometimes wrong and I don’t want to accuse this deputy incorrectly, which is why I’m posting this. But I think we’ll need to see more evidence to support his claim, if there is any.