Stopping a School Shooting
Scot Peterson served for many years as a school resource officer in Broward County, Florida. His job was largely uneventful—he might catch a kid vaping or break up a fight—until just after Valentine’s Day 2018. That day, a gunman walked into Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School and killed 17 people. Shortly after, a video circulated showing Peterson taking cover beside a wall while the gunman was inside shooting. From then on, Peterson became known in his town, and in international media, as the “Coward of Broward.” (The accidental rhyme probably helped spread the infamy.)
Peterson was later charged with seven counts of felony child neglect, three misdemeanor counts of culpable negligence, and one count of perjury. He was tried in the same courthouse where they tried the gunman, Nicholas Cruz. A jury found Peterson not guilty. However, the verdict did not resolve the major cultural questions. Should we expect a lone, sometimes poorly trained police officer with a pistol to face down a shooter with an assault rifle? And if the officer fails to do that, are we justified in labeling him a coward?
In this episode of Radio Atlantic, we talk with Jamie Thompson, who wrote The Atlantic’s March cover story, about Peterson. A longtime police reporter, Thompson learned that some highly trained SWAT officers were far less judgmental of Peterson than members of his community were. She looked into what we are leaving out when we reduce mass shootings to stories of courage or cowardice.
Listen to the conversation here:
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The following is a transcript of the episode:
News Archival: We have breaking news, and bear with us because we don’t have much information at this time, but there are reports of a school shooting. In Parkland, Florida, that’s in Broward County, these are live pictures right now.
Hanna Rosin: Six years ago, a gunman opened fire at a Parkland, Florida, high school.
News Archival: It looks like multiple injuries here. This is a horrible sight for these poor kids
Rosin: Seventeen people were killed at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. Seventeen more were injured. It is still the deadliest mass shooting at a high school in U.S. history.
News Archival: The latest we have from the Broward Sheriff’s Office is that the school is on lockdown. They’ve told students and others to barricade themselves in place, and they’re now searching for a gunman.
Rosin: This is Radio Atlantic. I’m Hanna Rosin. And we are revisiting that awful moment not because of the actions of that day, but because of the inaction.
I started following the story at
