Deputy At Parkland Shooting Would Have Seen Bodies If He Opened Door, Officer Testifies

CBS Miami

June 23, 2023

FORT LAUDERDALE - Former Parkland school resource officer Scot Peterson, who has said he couldn't pinpoint the shooter during the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School massacre, would have seen bodies if he opened a building's door instead of backing away, a police officer testified Tuesday at the deputy's trial.

Sunrise Police Lt. Craig Cardinale said when he arrived at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School from his nearby home, he immediately ran to the three-story 1200 building because that's where his son was attending class, ignoring the direction of Broward County deputies who told him it was too dangerous.

He said he and other officers went to the door that Deputy Scot Peterson had gotten within 10 yards of minutes earlier and could see and smell gunpowder smoke. They didn't know that 14 students and three staff members were already dead or dying and that shooter Nikolas Cruz had fled.

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