Live rounds to be fired during reenactment of Parkland shooting

A ballistics expert armed with an assault-rifle will fire more than 100 rounds inside Marjory Stoneman Douglas High school as they retrace the path of a gunman who shot and killed 17 people on Valentine’s Day 2018.

The reenactment of the Parkland school massacre, the deadliest high school shooting in United States history, is slated to take place Friday morning as part of a civil lawsuit against former Broward County school resource officer Scot Peterson. He’s accused of failing to confront shooter Nikolas Cruz when the gunfire began, and instead taking cover while the carnage occurred.

Cruz was 19 years old when he burst into his former school and started shooting on Feb. 14, 2018. He was sentenced to life in prison in November, a month after jurors declined to sentence him to death.

Peterson — who worked for the Broward Sheriff’s Office, which is also named in the lawsuit — has claimed he could not pinpoint Cruz’s location because of the echoing sounds of gunfire. Police previously said the officer arrived at the building with his gun drawn 73 seconds before Cruz reached the third floor, where he fatally shot six people.

Instead of engaging, Peterson hid some 75 feet away in the alcove of a neighboring building, his gun still drawn. He did not leave his spot for about 40 minutes — around 35 minutes after the shooting had stopped.

Lawyers for the victims’ loved ones are hoping Friday’s reenactment will prove Peterson should have been able to tell, without a doubt, where the gunfire was unfolding. It will involve live ammunition fired from the exact spots Cruz stood five years earlier during his violent march through the three-story building.

All shots fired will be caught by a safety device.

Broward County Public Schools has said that Marjory Stoneman Douglas High and neighboring Westglades Middle School will be closed to all students, staff and visitors on Friday. Several roads in the area will also be blocked off.

In June, 60-year-old Peterson was found not guilty of felony child neglect, among other criminal charges for failing to act. It was the first U.S. trial in history of a law enforcement officer concerning conduct during an on-campus shooting.

With News Wire Services