After an eight hour bus trip, protesters gather at the Donald L. Tucker Civic Center before marching to the Florida Capitol for the Rally in Tally in Tallahassee, Fla., Feb 26, 2018. (AP Photo/Mark Wallheiser)PARKLAND, Fla. – The sheriff’s deputy assigned to guard the Florida high school that was the scene of a mass shooting never entered the building to confront the suspect because he believed the gunfire was coming from outside, his attorney said Monday.
Scot Peterson has been called a coward for failing to stop the massacre that killed 17 people at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. The criticism intensified Monday as President Donald Trump blasted the deputy and other officers who were there, saying they “weren’t exactly Medal of Honor winners.”
If he had been there, Trump said, he would have raced into the high school during the attack even if he were unarmed.
Peterson’s attorney issued his first public statement about the attack, saying it was “patently untrue” the deputy failed to meet sheriff’s department standards or acted with cowardice at the scene of the Feb. 14 attack.
He resigned after Broward County Sheriff Scott Israel said he felt sick to his stomach over his deputy’s failure to intervene.