A Florida police officer has testified he didn't initially know where shots were being fired from during the Parkland high school massacre five years ago
PARKLAND, Fla. — — An off-duty police officer who was at Florida's Parkland high schooltestified Thursday at the trial of the deputy accused of not stopping the shooter, describing how he mistook gunshots for fireworks before realizing what was happening and approached unarmed.
What Peterson, 60, heard and saw on Feb. 14, 2018, is the key issue in the trial. He is charged with failing to confront shooter Nikolas Cruz before the gunman reached the 1200 building's third floor, where six of the victims died. “My training is that you run toward the sound of gunshots,” he said. “It was just instinct.” He said officers are told to get to the shooter because every gunshot is potentially another death.
Heinrich said he rushed Laman to a baseball locker room where he stemmed the bleeding until paramedics arrived. It was then Laman told him he had been shot on the 1200 building's third floor. He called his dispatchers. Laman, now 20, also took the stand Thursday, showing jurors his scarred, damaged leg. He broke down when prosecutors played security video of him and the others being shot on the third floor, adding his pain is so severe at times it makes him unable to walk.
If jurors find Peterson was a caregiver, they must determine whether he made a “reasonable effort” to protect the children or failed to provide necessary care.
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