The Florida sheriff’s deputy stationed at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School who never went in after the shooting on Feb. 14 began has resigned, Broward Sheriff Scott Israel said Thursday, reports the Miami Herald.
The deputy, Scot Peterson, was first suspended without pay after Israel learned that Peterson stood outside Building 12 for four minutes during the shooting, which lasted six minutes. Peterson decided to resign and retire Thursday morning.
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“I am devastated,” Israel said, reports the Herald. “Sick to my stomach. He never went in.”
Peterson should have “went in. Addressed the killer. Killed the killer,” Israel told reporters, according to the Sun Sentinel.
According to the sheriff, surveillance video confirmed that Peterson was outside the building where the shooting happened and armed, but never went inside. He started at his position for “minutes” while the shooting happened. Israel said the video is part of an ingoing investigation and might never be made public.
Building 12 is the freshman building, where police say gunman Nikolas Cruz opened fire, killing 14 students and three teachers. Cruz later confessed and has been charged with 17 counts of premeditated murder.
Days after the shooting, local officials began debating tearing down the building. Broward Schools Superintendent Robert Runcie told the South Florida Sun Sentinel last week that parents and students told him they cannot go back into that building.
“Parents and students have resoundingly told me they can’t go back into that building regardless of what we do,” Runcie explained. “The other piece I heard is that that building will be used as evidence in any type of legal process that goes forward, so we won’t be able to access the building for a while anyway.”
On Friday, the Herald reported that legislators have approved tearing down the building to add new classroom spaces and add a memorial for the victims and their families.
“This building has to come down,” State Sen. Bill Galvano told the Herald. “Everything was strewn across the halls from people running and dodging and there were significant blood splatters on the wall. Like someone took a milk jug and exploded it.”
“We need to take a serious look at tearing down that building and build a facility that these kids could return to and be proud of,” Sen. Wilton Simpson said Friday.
The cost of replacing the building could be between $25 million and $30 million.
