Why can I see this backfiring on a CCW "John Q Public" person who doesn't stop a threat in a similar situation, or being sued civilly by families of victims.
I doubt it, for the same reason a plumber wouldn't be sued for fouling up CPR and killing, rather than saving an accident victim. A doctor on scene
might be sued, but not the non-professional who just tried to help but fouled it up. Peterson was a trained professional.
That said, I'm not thrilled at the prison sentence. Getting fired and facing public humiliation? Sure. It's a little scary though, to think about being sent to prison for standing there and not doing something, as he was instructed to do. That seems like a dangerous precedent to me.
We can hate on the guy for not manning up regardless of the orders he was given, but neither cowardice nor stupidity are a crime, at least in civilian law.