Shots fired again during Parkland school massacre reenactment
PARKLAND - Five years after the massacre in the 1200 building at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, gunfire once again erupted in the hallways.
The reenactment of the shooting, featuring live gunfire, is part of a lawsuit against the school's former resource officer Scot Peterson. His former employer, the Broward Sheriff's Office, is also facing a lawsuit.
Peterson has said he didn't hear all the shots and couldn't pinpoint where they were coming from because of echoes. He got within feet of the building's door and drew his gun, but then backed away and stood next to an adjoining building for 40 minutes, making radio calls. He has said he would have charged into the building if he knew that's where the shooter was.
During the reenactment, ballistics experts fired up to 139 shots. Technicians outside a three-story classroom building recorded the sound of the gunfire, seeking to capture what Peterson heard during the six-minute attack.
The experts fired live ammunition from the same spots as gunman Nikolas Cruz, with an identical AR-15-style semiautomatic rifle. The bullets were caught by a safety device. The school is closed for summer break and students and teachers are not on campus.
The shooting, which sparked a nationwide movement for gun control, left 17 dead, 17 wounded, and hundreds traumatized in the South Florida community. Cruz pleaded guilty in 2021 and was sentenced to life in prison.
Families of the victims that brought the lawsuit contend Peterson knew Cruz's location but retreated out of cowardice and in violation of his duty to protect their loved ones.
Peterson, 60, was acquitted in June of felony child neglect and other criminal charges for failing to act, the first U.S. trial in the history of a law enforcement officer for conduct during an on-campus shooting.
But the burden of proof is lower in a civil lawsuit. Circuit Judge Carol-Lisa Phillips allowed the test but made clear she was not ruling on whether the recording will be played at trial. That, she said, will have to be argued later - it is likely Peterson's attorneys will oppose the attempt. No trial date has been set. The families and wounded are seeking unspecified damages.
Tony Montalto, president of Stand with Parkland, which represents most of the families, said while Peterson was acquitted of criminal charges "that doesn't mean he's not guilty of failing to do the right things."
"He failed to properly react to the tragedy, he failed to enter the building and he failed to render aid. The reenactment is designed to disprove some of the statements that were made during the criminal trial," Montalto said. His 14-year-old daughter, Gina, died in the shooting.
Peterson, who didn't testify at his criminal trial, insisted he would have acted differently if he knew where the shooter was.
Eagles' Haven, a community wellness center that opened after the shooting, planned several programs for Friday including yoga, tai chi, a drum circle, and meditation along with food so people can talk.
"When you are feeling triggered, it is good to be with other people who understand what you are going through," said Sarah Franco, the center's director.
Before the reenactment, nine members of Congress saw firsthand the devastation left behind by the gunman.
The House members were led to the same door gunman Nikolas Cruz entered, then entered through an adjoining door. They then walked the same path he did during the six-minute attack. They were accompanied by Cruz's prosecutors and members of the victims' families.
The group, six Democrats and three Republicans who belong to the House School Safety and Security Caucus, was led by Democratic Congressman Jared Moskowitz and Republican Congressman Mario Diaz Balart.
Before the tour got underway, Moskowitz spoke to CNN about the importance of the delegation walking through the site of the mass shooting.
"It's important for folks in Congress, my colleagues to see what happens when a school shooting comes to your neighborhood, how it affects families. And so, but it's going to be a very emotional day today is about again, just the visuals and walking with the parents and supporting them and supporting the community and the emotional experience," he said. "I'm not naive. I'm not expecting we're going to walk out of the building and start working on legislation. But the idea is to continue to have the conversation. I mean, there's a lot we can do when it comes to school safety, gun violence prevention."
Few have been inside the three-story building since the Valentine's Day 2018 shooting. The structure looms over the campus, locked behind a chain-link fence for use as evidence in last year's penalty trial for the shooter.
There is broken glass on the floor, along with wilted roses, deflated balloons and discarded gifts. Opened textbooks and laptop computers remain on students' desks - at least those that weren't toppled during the chaos.
The tour was suggested by Max Schachter, whose 14-year-old son, Alex, died in the shooting. He attended a private tour of the building recently and witnessed where his child took his last breath. He also accompanied the congressional delegates on their tour.
"I think that they understand the failures that happened today as we were walking through that building, we were identifying and members were coming up to me saying 'if only we had done this, if only we had done this'. So I hope that this shared experience of us all going through this together, understanding the failures and at the same time grieving the 17 beautiful souls that are no longer with us but will always be with us. We can come together and we can enact common sense school safety solutions so that this will never happen again," he said.
The reenactment finished around 5 p.m. Friday.