A new report released on Tuesday revealed that the Broward County Sheriff’s Deputy who was the school resource officer assigned to Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School and who failed to confront the school gunman is raking in a big pension now that he has retired.
Sheriff’s deputy Scot Peterson, who waited outside the school for several minutes during the shooting, is now receiving a monthly pension from the state of $8,702.35. The Sun-Sentinel reports:
Peterson began to receive his pension in April, according to the Florida Department of Management Services. He can receive the payments for the rest of his life.
The 55-year-old Peterson, a deputy for 32 years, was paid $101,879.03 last year, according to sheriff’s office records. Until the shooting, he was considered a trusted school resource officer at Stoneman Douglas, according to annual reviews of his performance.
Surveillance footage from the February 14 massacre shows that Peterson arrived at the building where the shooting was happening within moments of the initial shots being fired but failed to ever enter the school and confront the shooter. On March 15, the sheriff’s office released this statement:
The video speaks for itself. His [Peterson’s] actions were enough to warrant an internal affairs investigation, as requested by Sheriff Scott Israel on Feb. 21. After being suspended without pay, Peterson chose to resign and immediately retired rather than face possible termination.
News of Peterson’s pension was not well received on Twitter as numerous accounts expressed outrage and disgust that a man who failed to act in that situation is now making six-figures a year in retirement.
