Medal of Honor Recipient Ty Carter Says Running Into Shooting Is 'Probably the Worst Thing You Can Do'
After President Trump slammed Florida deputies for failing to stop the Parkland high school shooting, a Medal of Honor recipient says rushing into the scene of a mass shooting is "probably the worst thing you can do."
Staff Sergeant Ty Carter received America's highest military decoration for running through enemy fire to retrieve supplies and pull an injured comrade to safety during a 2009 battle in Afghanistan. President Obama awarded him the Medal of Honor in 2013.
After Trump criticized Broward County deputies for failing to stop alleged gunman Nikolas Cruz, Staff Sgt. Carter, 38, spoke to Inside Edition.
"Rushing in is probably the worst thing you can do," he said, "because if I'm the officer and I've got a firearm, if I get shot and killed, I now gave the suspect my firearm and my ammo to cause possibly more casualties."
He said that everyone likes to think they would act with courage in the face of violence or tragedy, but no one knows until they go through it.
"There are very few of us that have been given the misfortune to prove our valor or our bravery," he said. "Until then, you can hope you can do the right thing. You can plan you can do the right thing, but you never know what's going to happen until you're put in that situation."
Inside Edition's Les Trent also asked Staff Sgt. Carter about Trump's comments regarding Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School resource officer, Scot Peterson. After it emerged that Peterson stayed outside the school while the shooting unfolded inside, Trump rebuked him as a "coward."
"Is it fair to make that sort of assessment from what we know?" Trent asked.
"No, it's not," Staff Sgt. Carter said.
Peterson's attorney has said the deputy's actions were "appropriate under the circumstances and that... video (together with the eyewitness testimony of those on the scene) will exonerate him of any sub-par performance."
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