More than a dozen Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School students have filed a lawsuit against Broward County, as well as specific individuals, for the "severe psychological injury and trauma" they suffered during the Feb. 14th school shooting.
Individuals named in the lawsuit include:
- Former MSD school resource Deputy Scot Peterson
- Broward Sheriff's Office Capt. Jan Jordan
- Former MSD baseball coach and security guard Andrew Medina
- Broward County Public Schools Superintendent Robert Runcie
- John Does 1-3
- Broward County Sheriff Scott Israel
The lawsuit states that Jordan, who was the commanding officer at the shooting scene, "refused to allow emergency personnel to enter the school, even into the safe areas, to save lives" while former student Nikolas Cruz was still on school property.
According to the suit, Medina was the first person to spot Cruz on school property, but failed to lock down the premises or stop Cruz from his shooting spree, which resulted in the deaths of 17 people.
Israel's "arbitrary and conscience-shocking actions and inactions directly and predictably caused children to die, get injured and get traumatized," the lawsuit stated.
Runcie is accused by the 15 students of failing to ensure the safety and well-being of the students and faculty. Furthermore, Peterson is accused of failing to keep students and faculty safe by failing to enter the building where the shooting occurred and instead taking cover.
The students are also suing the county as a whole, stating that its "policies and procedures, and training or lack thereof, demonstrated deliberate indifference to the rights (of the) plaintiffs, and that deliberate indifference caused the herein complained-of harm to take place."
The students accused the defendants of violating their civil rights and are demanding a jury trial.
They are seeking "full and fair compensatory damages in an amount to be determined by a jury," as well as attorney fees and costs associated to filing the lawsuit.