(Newswire.net — February 23, 2018) —
More news arrive about the Florida Marjory Stoneman Douglas High school shooting.
Apparently there was an armed officer at the scene who just stood outside the school building for a full four minutes while the massacre was taking place.
The school’s resource officer, Scot Peterson arrived at the building where the shooting was taking place about 90 seconds after the initial shots had been fired.
According to Broward County Sheriff Scott Israel there is video footage that shows the 54-year-old Deputy Peterson standing outside of building twelve.
“I think he remained outside for upwards of four minutes,” said Sheriff Israel in a news conference.
When asked about what the armed officer should have done the Sheriff replied “Went in. Addressed the killer. Killed the killer.”
Scot Peterson was initially suspended, but he later resigned. He has declined to give statements about the incident. It is currently unclear whether he will be facing charges.
President Trump commented on the situation, criticizing Peterson’s failure to act.
“When it came time to get in there and do something he didn’t have the courage, or something happened, but he certainly did a poor job.”
“But that’s a case where somebody was outside, they’re trained, they didn’t react properly under pressure or they were a coward,” President Trump added.
Recently both President Trump and the NRA have mentioned the possibility of arming teachers. The President explained his views in a discussion on school safety on Thursday, “Shooters won’t walk into a school if 20% of people have guns.”
Florida Gov. Rick Scott’s communications director delivered a statement that the governor wants a “complete investigation” regarding Peterson’s failure to act, and he added “The governor believes the students and the families who lost loved ones deserve to know exactly what happened.”
The governor also called for “active shooter training” and said that he plans to raise Florida’s required age to purchase guns to 21.
Scot Peterson was Marjory Stoneman Douglas High’s school resource officer. He has held that position since 2009, and has worked for the sheriff’s office since 1985. Resource officers are sworn law enforcement officers who are assigned to schools in order to maintain safety and handle crime prevention.