<p>The police officer assigned to Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School was suspended Thursday ;for failing to engage the gunman (Nikolas Cruz) during the shooting last week. ;</p>
<p>Scott Peterson, who had worked for Stoneman since 2009, didn&rsquo;t even go into the building where the shooting occurred. A witness told the <em>New York Times</em> ;that Peterson sought cover &ldquo;behind a concrete column leading to a stairwell.&rdquo; ;</p>
<p>Broward County Sheriff Scott Israel announced Peterson&rsquo;s suspension during a press conference on Thursday, after which Peterson decided to resign. ;</p>
<p>Israel said he was &ldquo;devastated&rdquo; and &#8220;sick to his stomach&#8221; after learning of Peterson&rsquo;s inaction during the shooting. &ldquo;What matters is that when we, in law enforcement, arrive at an active shooter, we go in and address the target.&rdquo; Peterson should have &ldquo;went in, addressed he killed, killed the killer.&#8221;</p>
<p>Broward Schools Superintendent Robert Runcie says he&rsquo;s &ldquo;in shock&rdquo; over Peterson&rsquo;s behavior. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m outraged to no end that he could have made a difference in all this. It&rsquo;s really disturbing that we had a law enforcement individual there specifically for this reason, and he did not engage&hellip;It&rsquo;s one of the most unbelievable things I&rsquo;ve ever heard.&rdquo; ;</p>
<p>President Trump joined in on the criticism Friday, calling Peterson a &ldquo;coward&rdquo; who &ldquo;didn&rsquo;t have the courage&rdquo; to &ldquo;get in there and do something.&rdquo; ;</p>
<p>Two other deputies were suspended for their failure to follow-up on Nikolas Cruz despite having responded to more than 20 calls regarding disturbing behavior from Cruz and his brother &#8211; including warnings that Cruz was &ldquo;collecting guns and knives&rdquo; and &ldquo;could be a school shooter in the making.&rdquo;</p>
<p>The FBI also failed to follow-up on Cruz despite a warning that he had the potential to conduct a school shooting. ;</p>
<p>&#8212;</p>
<p>Local police are currently protecting Peterson&rsquo;s home from reporters and angry locals who rightly blame him for the deaths of their friends and children. ;</p>
<p><strong>Editor&#8217;s note</strong>: While we only know what has been reported in the media, it appears that extreme cowardice was a factor in this tragedy. ; When I was an intelligence officer engaged in overseas operations, I knew exactly how far I would go in the event of a confrontation and decided it was worthwhile to risk my life to serve my country. This police officer, if the story is true, refused to take a chance and engage the shooter even though he KNEW that children were dying.</p>