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US School Guard Not Guilty Of Failing To Stop Mass Shooting
A guard who allegedly hid while a mass shooter killed 17 at a Florida high school in 2018 was found not guilty Thursday of charges of neglect and negligence.
In an emotionally charged trial, a jury found no fault with the actions of former sheriff’s deputy Scot Peterson, 60, during the shooting at the school in the suburban city of Parkland.
On February 14, 2018, then-19-year-old former student Nikolas Cruz walked into the school carrying a semiautomatic rifle and shot dead 14 students and three staff members.
Cruz, who was able to buy his powerful weapon despite having known mental health issues, wounded another 17 people.
Peterson, a guard at the school, was accused of failing to enter the school building to pursue Cruz even though he was armed and had received training in confronting an active shooter.
Peterson, believed the first law enforcement officer in the country charged for failing to take action during a school shooting, was indicted for multiple counts of felony child neglect, and culpable negligence and one count of perjury.
The jury on Monday ruled him not guilty on all counts. Peterson broke down in tears when the verdict was announced.
“I got my life back” after the four-year court saga, he said outside the court.
His attorney Mark Eiglarsh said it was “not just a victory for Scot, but a victory for all law enforcement officers.”
‘Coward’ or ‘scapegoat’?
The Parkland shooting stunned the nation and reignited debate on gun control and how to protect schools from armed attacks.
Families of the dead and injured placed some of the blame for the extent of the deaths and injuries on Peterson.
During the trial, prosecutor Steven Klinger said Peterson, who had been in law enforcement for 32 years and a school resource officer, or security guard, at the school since 2009, had been trained to deal with such attacks.
Klinger said Peterson took shelter in an alcove outside the school building and remained there for 48 minutes, well after the shooting ended.
“In an active shooter situation, you go for the gunshots. You’re trained to go for those shots, to find that shooter, because every shot could be a death,” Klinger said.
Eiglarsh countered that his client was made a scapegoat, and denied that he was a “coward.”
Peterson could not tell where the gunshots were coming from on the sprawling Parkland campus and “did everything that you possibly could with the limited information that he had,” Eiglarsh contended.
Manuel Oliver, whose 17-year-old son Joaquin was killed at Parkland, expressed anger after the verdict at the reactions by Peterson and Eiglarsh after the verdict was announced.
“Tell me about that pain,” he said.
Peterson “obviously made a mistake and needs to be accountable,” he said.
“The honest thing to do is to walk out of that room quiet,” he added.
AFP
Justice Darius Khobo of the Kaduna State High Court has adjourned the bail hearing of former Kaduna State governor, Malam Nasir El-Rufai, to the first week of June, 2026.
El-Rufai was arraigned last week on an amended nine-count charge bordering on alleged fraud and abuse of office, filed by the Independent Corupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC).
He appeared before the court last Tuesday for hearing of his bail application.
However, the presiding judge, Darius Khobo, adjourned ruling on the application to Tuesy April 21, 2026.
The former governor was, last week, granted bail by a Federal High Court in Kaduna in another corruption case instituted against him by the ICPC.
Justice Rilwanu Aikawa admitted El-Rufai to bail in the sum of N200 million.
The judge had ordered that El-Rufai remain in ICPC custody pending the fulfilment of the bail conditions.
As part of the conditions, the defendant was barred from making public comments on the case and must attend all court sittings.
However, speaking after the court session on Tuesday, counsel to the former governor, Ukpon Akpan, said the bail application had been adjourned.
He kicked against the lingering adjournment, saying it is politically motivated.
Barcelona are set to let five key players leave the club this summer, as they plan a squad overhaul, according to reports.
The Blaugrana are currently sitting nine points clear at the top of LaLiga, and are set to romp to a second consecutive title ahead of rivals Real Madrid.
However, after more disappointment in the Champions League, in which they were dumped out by Atletico Madrid, Hansi Flick and the board at Barcelona are preparing to rebuild their squad at the end of the campaign.
Spanish media outlet Marca are reporting that there are five players who have ‘completed a cycle at the club’ and will likely be moved on come the summer.
Marcus Rashford is one of those players. Barcelona can buy the 28-year-old, who is on loan from Manchester United, for £26million under the terms of the deal, but reports have emerged that they are not willing to exercise that option.
The 28-year-old has contributed 12 goals and 13 assists this season to help the Catalan giants run rampant in LaLiga, and as recently as last week, it was believed that Barca would like to keep him.
However, they have made a failed bid to renegotiate the £26m fee with United, who are refusing to budge on the clause which expires on June 15 – four days after the World Cup kicks off in North America.
It means there is a strong chance that Rashford will be forced to return to his boyhood club following England duty if he is selected for the tournament this summer.
Another attacker who seems set for the exit door is none other than Robert Lewandowski.
The Pole, who joined Barcelona from Bayern Munich in 2022, is out of contract in the summer, and there has been little indication that he will sign a new deal at the club.
It is believed that both Lewandowski’s ‘age and recent physical problems’ have thrust his future at Barca into doubt.
Barcelona are said to be looking at freeing up some financial legroom, and for that reason, they want to offload stars on big wage packets.
One of those players is Frenkie de Jong, who is understood to be on just under €400,000 (£348,000) per week, and Marca suggest that he could be sold to ‘ease the financial burden’ on the Spanish giants.
Former Chelsea defender Andreas Christensen and La Masia graduate Marc Casado are also said to be on the proverbial chopping block.
Christensen played 161 games in six seasons with the Blues before making the move to Catalonia in 2022 on a four-year deal. That deal is now set to expire, and there are no plans for an extension at this moment in time.
Casado, however, still has two years left on his contract, but due to a lack of minutes, could be forced to find a new club.
The defensive midfielder has failed to break into the team ahead of Pedri, Eric Garcia, and Gavi, and has started only one of the last eight LaLiga games.
Kimberly Daniels, a United States Democratic member of the Florida House of Representatives for District 14, has alleged that Nigeria’s minister of state for defense, Bello Matawalle, attempted to bribe a US official to deflect the narrative of the United World Congress of Diplomats, UN-WCD, report.
The lawmaker made the claim in a viral video released on her official Facebook account on Monday.
She said Matawalle’s alleged move was to cover up the UN-WCD report on Christian genocide in Nigeria, which indicted him.
Daniels insisted that no amount of pressure can silence her stand against the killings of Christians in Nigeria.
“A US elected official was offered money by Nigeria’s minister of state defense, Bello Matawalle, to change the narrative of the UN-WCD Christian genocide in Nigeria report,” she said in the viral video.
Recall that Daniels, who doubled as the chairperson of UN-WCD, had called for President Bola Tinubu to remove Matawalle over alleged complicity in the killings in Plateau, Benue, Kaduna, and other parts of Nigeria.
Matawalle is yet to officially reply the US lawmaker.
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