Due to a court order, authorities released some of the surveillance footage in the Parkland, Florida school shooting. The video, obtained by TMZ. reportedly shows school resource officer Scot Peterson, a now-former deputy with the Broward County Sheriff’s Office, outside Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School on February 14 as a gunman opened fire inside.
The BCSO has been scrutinized for its response that day, with fingers pointing everywhere. Sheriff Scott Israel announced that Peterson was suspended without pay for not entering the building, and Peterson ended up resigning. Peterson, via an attorney, defended his actions during the shooting, saying that he followed his training, and also believed the shooter to be outside. Meanwhile, Israel is facing scrutiny himself, with calls for his resignation. The Florida Department of Law Enforcement is investigating how authorities handled the mass shooting.
Nikolas Cruz, a former student at the school, was indicted as the killer on 17 counts of premeditated murder, and 17 counts of attempted murder. The video release comes as part of a to a lawsuit by The South Florida Sun Sentinel, The Miami Herald, and CNN over the footage.
The shooting has sparked widespread demand for legislation to be passed that could prevent similar incidents from occurring in the future. On Wednesday, students across the United States participated in a 17-minute school walkout, that served both to protest what they view as a lack of political action, as well as to memorialize the victims of the attack.
[Image via Broward County Sheriff’s Office]
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