Peterson must face suit

Ex-Broward deputy argued that he was entitled to have civil case dismissed

Former Broward Sheriff’s Deputy Scot Peterson, vilified for his failure to confront the Parkland school shooter during last year’s mass murder, will have to face victims’ parents in court, an appeals court ruled Wednesday.

Peterson, 56, is one of multiple defendants being sued by Andrew and Shara Pollack, whose daughter, Meadow, was one of 17 students and faculty killed in the February 2018 massacre at Stoneman Douglas High School.

In his appeal, Peterson had argued that he was entitled to have the civil case dismissed because of statutory immunity: His attorneys argued that as an agent of the state, he should be exempt from civil action stemming from the performance of his duties. Broward Circuit Judge Patti Englander Henning had denied Peterson’s effort to dismiss the suit. The Fourth District Court of Appeal upheld her decision Wednesday. The appeals court found that if the allegations against Peterson are proven in court, he would not be entitled to immunity from civil action be

cause he acted in bad faith, with malicious purpose or “in a manner exhibiting wanton and willful disregard of human rights or safety.”

Peterson is also facing related criminal charges: seven counts of child neglect with great bodily harm, three counts of culpable negligence and exposure to harm, and one count of perjury. School shooter Nikolas Cruz, 21, faces the death penalty if convicted of the 17 murders. He is also charged with 17 counts of attempted murder. He is due in court for a hearing Thursday.

In the days and weeks after the shooting, Peterson was denounced for taking cover during the shooting. The former deputy, who resigned in the following days, is named as a defendant in more than two dozen negligence lawsuits brought by families of those killed, injured or traumatized by the shooting.

The lawsuit filed by the Pollacks names multiple defendants, including Cruz, the family that took him in after his adoptive mother died in late 2017, the Broward school district and the sheriff’s office. Pollack is also seeking to add campus monitor David Taylor, a coach accused of hiding in a closet when the shooting started, to the lawsuit.

“All he had to do was get on the radio and say it’s not a drill; there’s an active shooter,” Andrew Pollack said Wednesday.

Taylor’s attorney, David Henry, declined to comment. Calls and emails to Peterson’s civil attorneys were not returned Wednesday.