Scot Peterson, the former school resource officer arrested for his failure to intervene in the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting, has been released from jail.
The 56-year-old appeared in court Thursday, where his bond was reduced from $102,000 to $39,500. Hours later, he was released from jail.
Peterson, nicknamed the “Coward of Broward,” was arrested Tuesday and charged with seven counts of child neglect, three counts of culpable negligence, and a count of perjury for allegedly hearing gunshots and running to safety instead of confronting the shooter, who ended up killing 17 students and staff and injuring 17 others.
In court Thursday, Peterson’s lawyer, Joseph DiRuzzo, argued that the bond was too high and should be reduced.
“My client lives in North Carolina and has for approximately the last year. Before that he was a longtime resident of Broward County. He worked for the Broward Sheriff’s Office for decades as a school resource officer. My client has no criminal history, my client is not a risk to the community, he is not a flight risk,” DiRuzzo said.
The judge ruled that bond would be reduced to $5,000 for each of the child neglect charges, $1,000 for each of the culpable negligence charges, and $1,500 for the single count of perjury. Peterson will also not have to wear a GPS monitor as part of his pretrial release.
