Surveillance video released Thursday shows former deputy Scot Peterson standing outside Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School while Nikolas Cruz fatally shot 17 students and staff.

Broward County Sheriff’s Office, which released the video, identified Peterson in the footage, adding that it “speaks for itself.”  

SEE VIDEOS AT: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation-now/2018/03/15/parkland-surveillance-video-shows-officer-standing-outside-school-during-shooting/428147002/

On afternoon of Feb. 14, Peterson, the school’s armed resource officer, responded to the building where the shooting was unfolding within a minute and a half of when the gunfire started, Sheriff Scott Israel said. He positioned himself outside the building but never went in throughout the six-minute shooting, Israel said.

In the released video, a man can be seen running toward a school building at 2:23 p.m., when the initial 911 calls came in, and appears to stand outside for several minutes.

President Trump and Israel criticized Peterson’s actions. He later resigned.

After multiple media organizations, including the USA TODAY Network, petitioned for the release of the video, a Florida judge earlier this week ordered that it be made public.

Peterson’s lawyer, Joseph A. DiRuzzo III, said his client has been unfairly described as a “coward” for following protocol. DiRuzzo said Peterson believed the shooting was taking place outside the school and followed protocol for such an incident. That included taking up a “tactical position” outside the building and initiating a Code Red lockdown.

Peterson, DiRuzzo said, had the “presence of mind” to have school administrators go to the school’s video room and review the closed-circuit cameras to locate the shooter and then obtain a description for law enforcement.

Other Broward County deputies are under investigation for staying outside the school during the response to the mass shooting.