PARKLAND, FLA. (WSVN) - A federal judge has thrown out a lawsuit filed by several survivors of the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.
According to the Sun Sentinel, U.S. District Judge Beth Bloom dismissed a suit filed by 15 students. The group filed the lawsuit named six defendants, including the Broward school district, the Broward Sheriff’s Office, school deputy Scott Peterson and campus monitor Andrew Medina.
The lawsuit said the actions of Peterson, who did not go in and confront shooting suspect Nikolas Cruz, and Medina, who saw Cruz on the campus but did not confront him, allowed Cruz to kill 17 students and faculty, and injury 17 others.
The lawsuit also claimed BSO and the school board “either have a policy that allows killers to walk through a school killing people without being stopped. Alternatively, they have such inadequate training that the individuals tasked with carrying out the polices … lack the basic fundamental understandings of what those policies are such that they are incapable of carrying them out.”
However, Bloom disagreed, saying the two agencies had no duty to protect students who are not in custody.
This comes shortly after a county judge refused to dismiss a lawsuit filed against Peterson, ruling that Peterson did have a duty to protect those inside the school.
That lawsuit was filed by Andrew Pollack, whose daughter Meadow was killed in the February 14th shooting. Pollack said it made no sense for Peterson’s attorneys to argue that a sworn law enforcement officer with a badge and a gun had no requirement to go inside.
Peterson’s lawyer said he will appeal the ruling, the Sun Sentinel reports.
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