A former school security officer who failed to confront the gunman who killed 17 people in the 2018 Parkland school shooting has been found not guilty of child neglect.

Scot Peterson, who was a Broward County sheriff’s deputy and worked as a resource officer at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, sobbed as the verdict was read out on Thursday 29 June.

In 2019, he was charged with seven counts of neglect of a child, three counts of culpable negligence and one count of perjury.

Florida prosecutors had accused Mr Peterson of neglecting his training and his duty by failing to enter the school building while the gunman fired on students.