Off-Duty Officer Testifies He Didn't Know Just Where Shots Fired From During Parkland Massacre
U.S. News & World Report PARKLAND, Fla. (AP) An off-duty police officer who was at Florida's Parkland high school during the 2018 massacre testified Thursday at the trial of the deputy accused of not stopping the shooter, describing how he mistook gunshots for fireworks before realizing what was happening and approached unarmed.
Coral Springs Sgt. Jeffrey Heinrich, testifying for a second day for the prosecution, said he initially thought the shots were coming from in or near the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High classroom building where the 17 murders occurred. But it wasn't until he interviewed a wounded student several minutes after the shooting started that he knew for certain.
He conceded that he never got within 200 yards (182 meters) of where former Broward Deputy Scot Peterson had taken cover on the opposite side of the building and never saw the deputy.
What Peterson, 60, heard and saw on Feb. 14, 2018, is the key issue in the trial. He is charged with failing to confront shooter Nikolas Cruz before the gunman reached the 1200 building's third floor, where six of the victims died.
