PARKLAND, FL (Boca Post) (Copyright © 2023) — A large law enforcement presence has ben seen near Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School since 2 AM as experts are planning on performing an court-ordered simulation of the tragedy at the location.
BSO has been informing the public and the media that the large law enforcement presence will involve road closures around Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School which started at 2 AM this morning.
The closures are ahead of a court-ordered acoustic simulation of the 2018 massacre that killed 17 and injured 17.
BSO tells us that ballistics experts are planning on firing up to 139 rounds at the school during the reenactment. The court-ordered reenactment, experts say, is required as part of a civil lawsuit that alleges the BSO deputy failed to protect the victims. While Scot Peterson, the BSO deputy who was on site during the 2018 shooting, was acquitted of all criminal charges, the civil suit is a different case altogether, with different standards.
The court wants to hear what then-Deputy Peterson heard during the shooting. Peterson says that he thought the shots were coming from off-campus. While experts will be firing the simulation rounds, they sounds will be recorded, in an effort to verify Peterson’s claims.
Many of the victims families, named in the lawsuit, say that Peterson knew the gunfire was on campus, calling him a coward for not doing what cops are trained to do. Law enforcement experts say that during an active shooter situation, especially in a school, you run towards the gunfire. A fundamental principal, now known as “rapid deployment”, started after the 1999 Columbine High School shooting after officers responded far too late.
So, while the court-ordered acoustical test may be necessary to prove and document the acoustics of the gunfire Peterson heard during the shooting in 2018, it will not be easy for any of us to hear.
Family members and several members from the US Congress will be at the 1200 building before the simulation.
Road Closures around Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School
From the south, Coral Springs Drive/Pine Island Road will be shut down beginning at Westview Drive in Coral Springs to just past Holmberg Road to the north.
From the west, Holmberg Road will be shut down from the Heron Bay Boulevard roundabout near Westglades Middle School to just past Pine Island Road to the east.
