1 / 4School Shooting FloridaFormer Broward Sheriff's Office deputy Scot Peterson appears in the courtroom for a hearing at the Broward County Courthouse in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
1 / 4School Shooting FloridaFormer Broward Sheriff's Office deputy Scot Peterson appears in the courtroom for a hearing at the Broward County Courthouse in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., Thursday, June 6, 2019. FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — A former Florida deputy charged with 11 criminal counts after failing to confront the gunman in the Parkland school massacre was released from jail Thursday after a judge reduced his bail and lifted some restrictions.
Scherer also eliminated a previous requirement that Peterson wear a GPS monitor. His bond is secured by $330,000 in real estate and he will be allowed to go to his home in North Carolina.Peterson, 56, is charged with child neglect, culpable negligence and perjury stemming from the February 2018 shooting that left 17 dead at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. If convicted, he faces a potential maximum prison sentence of nearly 100 years.
His attorney, Joseph DiRuzzo, said Peterson should not face the neglect and negligence charges because he was not legally a caregiver with direct responsibility for the welfare of the students. The charges stem from Peterson's decision to remain outside a school building — where he was the assigned resource officer — on Valentine's Day last year when police say defendant Nikolas Cruz, 20, fired 140 rounds from an AR-15 rifle. Cruz faces the death penalty if convicted of the killings. His attorneys have said he would plead guilty in return for a life prison sentence.
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