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Deputy acquitted in Parkland school shooting
A Florida sheriff’s deputy was acquitted Thursday of felony child neglect and other charges for failing to act during the 2018 Parkland school massacre, concluding the first trial in U.S. history of a law enforcement officer for conduct during an on-campus shooting. Former Broward County Deputy Scot Peterson wept as the verdicts were read. The jury deliberated for 19 hours over four days.
PARKLAND, Fla. (AP) - The South Florida school building where 14 students and three staff members were fatally shot in a 2018 massacre will be demolished next summer, officials announced Thursday.
The demolition of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School’s 1200 building, which has remained closed and locked behind a fence since the Parkland shooting, is scheduled to take place immediately after the end of the school year, Broward County Public Schools said in a statement.
The 1200 building at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High, where students and staff were murdered in the 2018 school shooting, will be demolished next summer. (Carline Jean/South Florida Sun Sentinel/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)
"We understand the urgency of this matter, but it is essential to prioritize safety above all else," it said. "In preparation for the demolition, crews will clean and clear the building, adhering to state and the Environmental Protection Agency’s landfill disposal regulations."
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Classes have long since resumed at the Stoneman Douglas campus while the building with bullet-riddled and blood-splattered walls remained. Members of the community have been calling for its demolition for years, but prosecutors said they needed to preserve it as evidence for the murder trial of the shooter.
On Feb. 14, 2018, former student Nikolas Cruz went with an AR-15-style semiautomatic rifle to the campus, where he killed 17 people and wounded 17 others. He pleaded guilty in 2021 and was sentenced to life in prison last year.