It’s a day no one would want to re-live — Valentine’s Day 2018, when a gunman took 17 lives at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland. But on Friday, the killer’s gunfire and movements were reenacted, as were the movements of the lone school resource deputy on campus that day.
The video- and audio-taped reenactment was conducted for the families of those killed and survivors who have filed in all 42 lawsuits against resource deputy Scot Peterson and others. They hope it will be used to convince a jury that Peterson could have known where the gunman was that day. And, had he acted differently, could have saved lives.
"We're all in support of the reenactment," said Max Schachter, who lost his son, Alex, in the shooting.
"The jury that watched the video during the criminal trials, there was no audio in that video," Schachter said. "So that’s why we're doing the reenactment, and we believe it will show there's no possible way that Scot Peterson didn’t hear the 70 rounds from an AR-15 when he was just feet away from that building."
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A jury has already found Peterson not guilty of child neglect and all other charges, but civil cases are easier to prove — and families hope the sights and sounds recorded Friday will prove Peterson liable for negligence, causing injuries and deaths.
"That reenactment will hopefully help us obtain justice through the court system, justice that has so far eluded our families," said Tony Montalto, whose daughter, Gina, died in the shooting.
While Judge Carol Lisa Phillips allowed the reenactment, she stressed that does not mean she will let a jury see it. That will be an argument for another day.
"We hope the judge will use all this reenactment that they're recording and Scot Peterson will face some accountability for his inaction and his failure that day," Schachter said.
Cameras captured much of what happened during the gunman’s six-minute rampage, but the families want jurors to see and hear what Peterson did. An expert walked the hallways with an AR-15-style semiautomatic rifle identical to the one the killer used, and the bullets were caught by a safety device. The sights and sounds were recorded from a golf cart on the same path Peterson used as fire alarms blared.
The families' attorney, David Brill, said 49 shots were fired during the reenactment.
Once the reenactments are done, the school board can continue moving toward finally demolishing the 1200 building. Montalto and some of the other families say nothing, except perhaps a memorial, should take its place.
