PARKLAND, Fla. – A defense motion has passed to allow former Broward Sheriff’s Office Deputy Scot Peterson to visit Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, where 17 students and staff members were killed in February 2018 under his watch, his attorney confirmed to Local 10 News on Friday.
Peterson is charged with seven counts of child neglect, three counts of culpable negligence and one count of perjury.
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Peterson’s attorney, Mark Eiglarsh, filed the motion so that they may adequately prepare for his trial. Peterson and his private investigator Kevin Bolling will be present during the visit, along with Eiglarsh.
The Broward State Attorney’s Office has already had access to the scene to prepare them for trial, the motion stated.
According to the motion, the state does not object to the defense visiting the scene so long as the visit is coordinated through the Broward Sheriff’s Office.
Eiglarsh told Local 10 News that a date has not yet been set for when they will visit the school, however they will go either on a weekend or day when there are no children on campus.
Peterson has defended his actions during the school shooting, saying he didn’t enter the 1200 building as confessed gunman Nikolas Cruz was carrying out the massacre because he didn’t know where the gunman was and thought a sniper may have been targeting the building.
“I arrived at that scene, and when I got there, I heard two to three shots outside,” Peterson said during a news conference last October. “I immediately got on my radio and I reported ‘Shots fired.’ I then went on my school radio to lock down the school, to safeguard the 3,200 kids on that campus.”
During that same news conference, Eiglarsh defended his client’s actions, saying that he wasn’t “hiding” as many have criticized him of doing, but said that he was taking a position that he is trained to take and that he immediately ordered the school’s unarmed security guard to leave the area as Peterson remained at the scene.