Parkland school shooting being reenacted with gunfire Friday

Nearly 140 bullets will again fly at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida on Friday — as experts re-enact some of the horrors of the 2018 massacre that killed 17 and wounded just as many.

The chilling reenactment is part of a lawsuit against Scot Peterson, the former sheriff’s deputy accused of failing to protect students and staff during the six-minute carnage.

Peterson, who was armed at the time, has claimed he only failed to rush in and help because he had no idea where the gunshots were coming from, which some of the victims’ families aim to prove was impossible.

Technicians outside will record the sounds of 139 bullets being fired inside the three-story school building to capture what the then-deputy likely heard.

They’ll use the same type of AR-15-style semiautomatic rifle Nikolas Cruz used in the school shooting and in the same areas of the building where he struck.


Scott Peterson, former sheriff’s deputy, reacts as he is found not guilty on all charges.
Scott Peterson, former sheriff’s deputy, reacts as he is found not guilty on all charges.
AP

Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooter Nikolas Cruz shackled in court.
Nikolas Cruz was sentenced to life in prison after pleading guilty in 2021.
AP

Peterson is expected to be there Friday as an observer, but will not take part in the reenactment.

The deserted school, which still has broken glass and overturned tables from the 2018 Valentine’s Day slaughter, is scheduled to be demolished after the reenactment.

Cruz, a former Marjory Stoneman Douglas student, was sentenced to life in prison after pleading guilty in 2021.


Scot Peterson.
Peterson was accused of failing to protect students and staff during the six-minute carnage.
via REUTERS

Memorials outside Parkland school.
The three-story building is due to be demolished after the reenactment.
AP

Peterson had been just feet from the door of the school building, with his gun drawn, when he instead moved away from the school and waited next to an adjacent building for 40 minutes.

He argued he did not hear the gunfire and could not tell where the gunshots were coming from — claiming he would have raced in to help had he known the shooter was inside.

“Those were my kids in there,” Peterson told NBC’s Today Show in 2018. “I never would have sat there and let my kids get slaughtered. Never.”


Students are evacuated by police from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, Feb. 14, 2018, in Parkland, Fla.
The reenactment will include 139 shots fired from an AR-15-style semiautomatic rifle.
AP

Law enforcement officers block off the entrance to Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Feb. 15, 2018 in Parkland, Fla., following a deadly shooting at the school.
The deputy is due to be an observer at Friday’s reenactment.
AP

The Broward Sheriff’s Office was also named in the lawsuit, which was brought by victims’ families who accuse him of knowing Cruz was inside but being too fearful to perform his duty.

They are seeking unspecified damages.

The 60-year-old sheriff’s deputy was acquitted in June of criminal charges related to his alleged cowardice, including felony child neglect.


Jennifer Montalto holds a picture of her daughter, Gina, before giving her victim impact statement during the penalty phase of the trial of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooter Nikolas Cruz at the Broward County Courthouse in Fort Lauderdale on August 3, 2022. 
Jennifer Montalto, here holding a picture of her slain daughter, Gina, is among those accusing the deputy of dereliction of duty.
POOL/AFP via Getty Images

Isabel Dalu holds a photograph of Cara Loughran before giving a victim impact statement on behalf of the Loughran family during the trial.
Isabel Dalu holds a photograph of Cara Loughran before giving a victim impact statement on behalf of the Loughran family during the trial.
POOL/AFP via Getty Images

Tony Montalto, president of Stand with Parkland, a group that represents the families, said the re-enactment “is designed to disprove some of the statements that were made during the criminal trial.”

Montalto’s daughter, 14-year-old Gina, died in the shooting.

“He failed to properly react to the tragedy, he failed to enter the building and he failed to render aid.”

Circuit Judge Carol-Lisa Phillips, who is presiding over the still ongoing lawsuit litigation, has not yet ruled as to whether the recording of the re-enacted gunfire will be admissible at trial.

A trial date has not yet been set.

With Post wires.