Sgt. Heinrich said that despite being off-duty and unarmed, he immediately ran towards the sounds of the gunfire when he heard the first shots and saw students fleeing the school.
Dramatic testimony at the trial of disgraced Parkland school officer Scot Peterson on Thursday, who is on trial for failing to confront the gunman during the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School massacre.
Prosecutors called Sgt. Jeffrey Heinrich to the stand, where he spoke about being at the school when the massacre broke out back on Feb.14, 2018.
The police officer said that despite being off duty and unarmed, he immediately ran towards the sounds of the gunfire when he heard the first shots and saw students fleeing the school during the Florida shooting.
"People are dying, and that's the way you have to think about it as a police officer," Sgt. Heinrich said during his testimony. "If that gun is going off people are dying."
Sgt. Heinrich then added: "Especially on a school campus."
He testified that he eventually found an injured student who had been shot in the leg and carried the boy to safety, before collecting a bulletproof vest and weapon to go in and help evacuate more students during the shooting.
At the same time, Sgt. Heinrich said that he continued to worry about the fact that both his wife and son were at the school that day
"I actually called my wife to find out if they were ok, which they were," he said while fighting back tears. "They were sheltered in the building once I found that out."
Prosecutors are hoping to show the contrast between Peterson and Sgt. Heinreich's actions on the day of the massacre.
