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Lawyer: Resource Officer Thought Shooting Was Happening Outside School

Douglas High School's resource officer stood outside during the shooting because that's where he thought the attack was happening, his lawyer says.

By: James Packard

Posted at 8:46 PM, Feb 26, 2018

and last updated 2018-02-26 20:46:06-05

The lawyer for the school resource officer who stood outside of a Florida high school instead of going inside during a shooting earlier this month says the deputy thought the gunfire was coming from outside the building.

Broward County Sheriff's Deputy Scot Peterson resigned last week after he was suspended without pay while his response to the shooting was investigated.

Joseph DiRuzzo, Peterson's lawyer, says Peterson followed the proper protocol for a shooting happening outside the school. And he says his client had the cognizance to ask administrators to look at video monitors in order to locate the shooter and get a description.

We should note that what exactly Peterson did or didn't do during the shooting is currently under investigation, so we don't have a lot of details about what happened in the minutes during the shooting.

According to reports from CNN and The Sun Sentinel, Coral Springs Police officers say several Broward County Sheriff's deputies stayed outside the building during the shooting.

Broward County Sheriff Scott Israel said Peterson should have gone into the building and "killed the killer."

Additional reporting from Newsy affiliate CNN.