Deputy who stayed outside during Parkland school shooting arrested

The Florida deputy who failed to confront a gunman during last year’s Parkland massacre has been arrested on 11 charges, prosecutors said Tuesday.

State Atty. Mike Satz said that 56-year-old Scot Peterson faces charges of child neglect, culpable negligence and perjury stemming from his actions during the shooting. Peterson, then a Broward County deputy, was on duty during the attack at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School but never went inside.

Satz said the charges carry a combined prison sentence of nearly 100 years. Peterson’s bail was set at $102,000.

A Peterson lawyer didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

Twenty-year-old Nikolas Cruz faces the death penalty if convicted of killing 17 people and wounding 17 others in the attack. He has offered to plead guilty in return for a life sentence, but prosecutors have refused that offer.