Ex-Parkland school resource deputy cleared on all charges

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – Former Parkland school resource Deputy Scot Peterson was found not guilty Thursday on all 11 counts against him related to the Feb. 14, 2018, mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.

Peterson, 60, broke down in tears as soon as the judge began reading the verdicts Thursday afternoon.

His defense attorney, Mark Eiglarsh, also became emotional as each verdict was read.

Fathers Tony Montalto and Tom Hoyer, whose children, Gina Montalto and Luke Hoyer, were killed on the first floor of the 1200 building were in the courtroom and seemed disappointed by the verdicts. Tony Montalto was seen shaking his head as each verdict was read.

“For our families, we feel that he should be haunted every day by his failure to act,” Tony Montalto said outside the courtroom. “His inaction contributed to the pain of the entire community and we don’t understand how this jury looked at the evidence that was presented and found him not guilty.”

“All of the evidence and all of the video, it just shows that he (Peterson) valued his life over the people on the third floor,” Tom Hoyer said.

WATCH: Judge reads 11 verdicts for Scot Peterson:

Outside the courtroom, Peterson also spoke with reporters, saying he hopes no school resource officer in the country ever has to go through what he did.

The 32-year law enforcement veteran said he spent 28 of those years working as an SRO because he “wanted to make a difference.”

WATCH: Scot Peterson speaks after being acquitted of wrongdoing:

He said he was blindsided by then-Broward Sheriff Scott Israel, who blamed him in a news conference for not entering the building, although he says the sheriff hadn’t even spoken to him yet following the massacre.

“I will never forget that day,” Peterson said. “It is unbelievable. The real person who killed them is that monster.”

Eiglarsh also called out the sheriff, as well as the prosecution team, saying their motivation was clearly political.

Tony Montalto called Peterson’s actions during the mass shooting “cowardly.” He said his faith in the justice system has diminished and that the “residents of Broward County need to learn how to hold people accountable.”

Tom Hoyer also expressed his disappointment, saying he was “deeply, deeply disappointed.”

“In this case, Scot Peterson was dropped off at the very door of the building the shooter went in – 10 feet from the door. He could have taken 10 steps forward. He could have been a hero,” Hoyer said.

Peterson was charged with seven counts of felony child neglect for four underage students killed -- Cara Loughran, Peter Wang, Jaime Guttenberg and Joaquin Oliver -- and three wounded -- Marian Kabachenko, Kyle Laman and Anthony Borges -- on the third floor.

Legal analyst David Weinstein told Local 10′s Christina Vazquez Thursday that in what is being called a “first-of-its-kind case,” the outcome established a precedent.

“These jurors believed that Peterson did what was reasonably expected of him under the circumstances,” he said.

DOCUMENTS: View documents related to case of former Parkland school resource Deputy Scot Peterson

Peterson arrived at the building with his gun drawn 73 seconds before Cruz reached that floor, but instead of entering, he backed away as gunfire sounded. He has said he didn’t know where the shots were coming from.

WATCH: Parkland fathers Tony Montalto and Tom Hoyer speak after former SRO is cleared of wrongdoing:

Peterson was also charged with three counts of misdemeanor culpable negligence for the adults shot on the third floor, including murdered teacher Scott Beigel, murdered 18-year-old student Meadow Pollack and teacher Stacey Lippel, who was injured in the shooting.

He also faced a perjury charge for allegedly lying to investigators about what he saw and heard that day to cover up for failing to confront the shooter.

His defense attorney told jurors that Peterson wasn’t cowering, but rather taking a tactical position of cover because he didn’t know precisely where the shots were coming from and that he did the best job he could with the information he had at the time.

The state has also argued that as a school resource officer, Peterson was a caregiver. The defense has called that a “ludicrous” idea.

If he had been convicted, Peterson could have been sentenced to nearly a century in prison for the child neglect counts and could have lost his $104,000 annual pension. His maximum potential sentence would have only been 18 months if he was found guilty only of the misdemeanor charges.

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