President Donald Trump says the armed officer who didn't stop the gunman who carried out last week's Florida massacre was either a "coward" or "didn't react properly under pressure."

Trump was departing the White House for the Conservative Political Action Conference when he said: "When it came time to get in there and do something" Florida deputy Scot Peterson "didn't have the courage or something happened."

Trump added, "he certainly did a poor job, there's no question about that."

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Officials announced Thursday that Peterson never went inside to engage the gunman at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School while the shooting that killed 17 was underway.

Trump is calling the episode "a real shot to the police department" and says this "could have been prevented."

