Officer who responded to Parkland mass shooting testifies against deputy who hid outside
A Florida police officer among some of the earliest first responders to the the 2018 Parkland school shooting said Scot Peterson, a former Broward County sheriff’s deputy, ignored his training when he took cover instead of confronting the gunman.
“It is not that, as one police officer, I want to go inside by myself,” Coral Spring officer Richard Best said. “But that is our training — to go inside.”
“It is understood that the longer you wait, the more damage is being done,” he added. “Every time you heard a gunshot, somebody might be dead.”
The comments came amid testimony offered on the third day of Peterson’s trial. He’s facing charges for failing to confront Nikolas Cruz, who unleashed carnage inside Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School on Valentine’s Day 2018.
Peterson was working as a school resource officer when gunfire erupted inside the Parkland school. He initially claimed he did not know where Cruz was, but surveillance video taken the day of the deadly attack shows that the ex-officer never entered the building.
Best on Friday similarly disputed the fact that Peterson could not locate the gunman, who killed 17 people before he was detained. He said he approached Peterson just outside the classroom building, where they had a brief exchange.
“I said, ‘Hey brother, what do we got?’” Best told the jury. “He said, ‘Gunshots second or third floor.’”
Police previously said Peterson arrived at the building with his gun drawn 73 seconds before Cruz reached the third floor, where he fatally shot six people. Peterson meanwhile took cover some 75 feet away in the alcove of a neighboring building, his gun still drawn. He did not leave his spot for about 40 minutes — around 35 minutes after the shooting had stopped.
Peterson could be sentenced to nearly a century in prison if convicted. His trial kicked off Wednesday and is expected to last at least two months.
With News Wire Services
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