Appeals Court Rules Parkland School Shooting Surveillance Video Can Be Released
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FORT LAUDERDALE (CBSMiami) — Surveillance video showing law enforcement response outside Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School the day of February's mass school shooting in Parkland is expected to be released following a decision by the 4th District Court of Appeal Friday.
The 4th DCA denied a Broward County School Board request for certification which means the footage can now be released. The School Board doesn't want the video released because it believes it could reveal blind spots in school security. Prosecutors had also opposed release.
Technically, the 10-day stay on releasing the video expires on Monday.
The video, approximately two hours in length, shows only the exterior of the school including outside freshman building 12 that shows law enforcement actions. It does not show the massacre or any victims.
News organizations requested the release as a matter of public record in order to better understand the actions of law enforcement and first responders during the shooting that killed 17 people and injured 17 others.
CLICK HERE TO READ THE 4th DCA RULING
Authorities say the school had 70 operating video cameras that day. However, the Broward County Sheriff's Office subpoenaed all of the video surveillance footage and seized the computers that housed the footage.
Media organizations petitioned for the video to be released in "extreme public interest" in "the response of law enforcement officers during the shooting and immediately thereafter."
The original petition mentioned school resource officer, Scot Peterson, by name. He is the former BSO deputy who retired amid accusations that he failed to follow sheriff's office policy when he remained outside the building instead of going inside to confront the shooter. Victims' parents and others have also charged that first responders hesitated in a way that might have cost lives.
Video of Peterson's actions have already been released.
Broward Schools Superintendent Robert Runcie said district employees have never seen the newly released footage because it was confiscated by sheriff's and FBI investigators shortly after the shooting.
Nikolas Cruz, 19, is charged with 17 counts of murder and 17 counts of attempted murder in the shooting. His lawyers have said he would plead guilty if prosecutors would waive the death penalty, but that offer has been rejected.
