Parkland school resource officer who stayed outside during shooting found not guilty

The Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School resource officer who remained outside during a 2018 mass shooting was found not guilty on all charges on Thursday.

The deadly mass shooting saw 17 people, among them 14 students, perish while Scot Peterson remained outside the building. He faced 11 counts in connection with his lack of action. He had pleaded not guilty to all of them, CNN reported. Peterson also faced a perjury charge in connection with statements he made to law enforcement about the episode.

He had allegedly lied about the number of gunshots he heard upon arriving at the scene and whether he had witnessed people fleeing a school building. His attorneys had argued Peterson did not enter the building because he could not determine from which direction the gunshots had come.

Late last year, shooter Nikolas Cruz received a life sentence after pleading guilty to 17 counts of murder and 17 counts of attempted murder. Florida permits the death penalty, but the jury declined to recommend that sentence, a decision which earned the ire of many of the victims' families.

"It is heartbreaking how any person who heard and saw all this did not give this killer the worst punishment possible," parent Annika Dworet said at the time.

Ben Whedon is an editor and reporter for Just the News. Follow him on Twitter.