Legal experts question ex-deputy’s arrest over Parkland tragedy
By: Curt Anderson, The Associated Press
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — The arrest of a Florida sheriff’s deputy for not confronting the gunman in the Parkland school massacre represents a highly unusual use of the law — and a legally dubious one, in the opinion of some experts.
Scot Peterson, 56, appeared in court Wednesday on 11 charges, including negligence and child neglect for not entering the building during the rampage last year at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School that left 17 people dead.
In court papers, prosecutors said five people were killed and four others wounded after Peterson took up his position, gun drawn, but did not go inside. Nikolas Cruz, 20, faces the death penalty if convicted in the Valentine’s Day bloodshed.
