Families of Parkland school shooting victims file lawsuits charging negligence

More than 20 lawsuits filed by the families of Parkland school shooting victims accuse the Broward County school board, sheriff's office and others with negligence for failing to prevent the massacre that left 17 people dead and 17 injured.

Nikolas Cruz, a former student, has confessed to the killings on Feb. 14, 2018, at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida.

Among the defendants in the civil lawsuits are the Broward County School Board, the Broward County Sheriff's Office (BSO), Broward County Sheriff's officer Scot Peterson, campus monitor Andrew Medina and Henderson Behavioral Health Inc. of Florida.

The suits, filed Wednesday under the Florida Wrongful Death Act, accuse the defendants of negligence for either failing to prevent or stop the massacre.

Attorney for the families said they have worked for more than a year to reach a settlement to establish a fund that would provide millions to compensate the families according to National Public Radio. The lawsuits could be dropped if a broad settlement plan is worked out.

According to the lawsuits, the Broward school board should have warned the high school about past acts of violence by Cruz at Marjorie Stoneman Douglas and other county schools.

The lawsuits charge that the sheriff's department allegedly failed to implement policies for handling an active shooter situation and should be held accountable for the failure of officers to enter the school immediately after the shooting broke out to "locate and neutralize" the gunman.

Scot Peterson, a Broward County sheriff's officer, was singled out in the lawsuits and accused of "wantonly and willfully" disregarding department police by not entering the school to engage the shooter.

Instead, one suit alleged, he was "waiting outside the school for an inordinate amount of time as the shots rang out inside." Among the allegations of negligence was that Peterson ordered other responding officers not to even approach the site of the shooting "thus prolonging the killing spree that continued inside."

Andrew Medina, a monitor at the high school, was accused of negligence for allegedly failing to call for a Code Red at the school after spotting Cruz, whom he allegedly knew was a threat, enter the school.

The lawsuits also named Henderson Behavioral Health, which had examined Cruz earlier, for allegedly advising police and school authorities that he was not a risk to harm anyone.

Joseph DiRuzzo, an attorney representing Peterson, said he is confident that the lawsuits "lack merit" and that he plans to fight them "vigorously," according to NPR, which said the attorney representing Medina declined to comment.

Last year, Peterson told NBC's "Today" show that he had called for a lockdown in the school because he thought the shots were outside. He said he was also worried that responding officers might be hit by sniper fire.

In the interview, Peterson acknowledged that he "didn't get it right" but not because he did not want to go into the building.

"Those are my kids in there," he said. "I never would have sat there and let my kids get slaughtered. Never."