A lawyer for the Florida deputy who failed to engage the shooter during the Parkland school massacre released a statement Monday defending the cop's actions that day as being by the book, the Miami Herald reported.
Scot Peterson, the school resource officer who decided on early retirement over suspension without pay over the rampage that left 17 dead, says he's no coward, so-called by President Donald Trump last week.
Peterson asserts that he thought the gunfire was coming from outside.
"BSO trains its officers that in the event of outdoor gunfire, one is to seek cover and assess the situation in order to communicate what one observes with other law enforcement," read the statement sent from the office of Fort Lauderdale attorney Joseph DiRuzzo.
"Allegations that Mr. Peterson was a coward and that his performance, under the circumstances, failed to meet the standards of police officers are patently untrue," the statement reads.
Broward County Sheriff Scott Israel last week announced that surveillance video showed Peterson directly outside the building being shot up by confessed murderer Nikolas Cruz for 4 minutes, noting that he was "sick to my stomach" over Peterson's inaction.
The shooting lasted 6 minutes before Cruz, who was never engaged by the 32-year vet Peterson or any other armed member of law enforcement, fled the campus on foot.
"Radio transmissions indicated that there was a gunshot victim in the area of the football field, which served to confirm Mr. Peterson's belief that the shooter, or shooters, were outside," the lawyer's statement read.
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