Release Of Surveillance Video In Parkland School Shooting Delayed
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FT LAUDERDALE (CBSMiami) - Surveillance video from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High on the day of the mass shooting will not be released to the public just yet.
Last Tuesday an appeals court ruled Tuesday that news organizations are entitled to obtain surveillance video showing law enforcement response outside the school during the Valentine's Day shooting.
On Wednesday, the 4th District Court of Appeal upheld a lower court's ruling that the video is public record that must be disclosed.
CLICK HERE TO READ THE COURT RULING
The video was set to be released Friday, but the 4th District Court of Appeal issued a ten-day stay of its own order to give the School Board a chance to seek review in the Florida Supreme Court.
The video, approximately two hours in length, shows only the exterior of the school including outside the freshman building 12. It does not show the massacre or any victims.
News organizations requested the release as a matter of public record in order to better understand the actions of law enforcement and first responders during the shooting that killed 17 people and injured 17 others.
Authorities say the school had 70 operating video cameras that day. However, the Broward County Sheriff's Office subpoenaed all of the video surveillance footage and seized the computers that housed the footage.
Media organizations petitioned for the video to be released in "extreme public interest" in "the response of law enforcement officers during the shooting and immediately thereafter."
The original petition mentioned school resource officer, Scot Peterson, by name. He is the former BSO deputy who retired amid accusations that he failed to follow sheriff's office policy when he remained outside the building instead of going inside to confront the shooter. Victims' parents and others have also charged that first responders hesitated in a way that might have cost lives.
Video of Peterson's actions have already been released.
Broward Schools Superintendent Robert Runcie said district employees have never seen the newly released footage because it was confiscated by sheriff's and FBI investigators shortly after the shooting. Even though his agency had opposed public release of the video for security reasons, he said its release would help the district's investigation by a retired Secret Service agent into the shooting, including how Stoneman Douglas teachers and staff responded.
Nikolas Cruz, 19, is charged with 17 counts of murder and 17 counts of attempted murder in the shooting. His lawyers have said he would plead guilty if prosecutors would waive the death penalty, but that offer has been rejected.
