Zachary Cruz, the brother of Florida school shooter Nikolas Cruz, has been banned from obtaining firearms after his recent trespassing arrest at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.
The ban is only temporary and was put into affect by a Broward County Court judge who ruled that 18-year-old Zachary poses “a significant danger of causing personal injury to himself” if he was allowed access to firearms.
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While the order points out that there is no tangible evidence to suggest Zachary may be a threat to himself or someone else, the judge added that he still believes there is “reasonable cause” to think that the teen could harm himself.
Zachary was arrested on March 12 after he was seen skateboarding and walking around at the Parkland, Florida high school campus, according to the Palm Beach Post. He is being held in jail on bail for $500,000, an unusual high amount for trespassing on school grounds charges, often regarded as a second-degree misdemeanor that typically results in a $25 bond.
As has been widely reported, Zachary’s brother Nikolas was charged with 17 counts of premeditated murder, one for each of the students and adults he shot to death on Feb. 14.
In the days following the tragic shooting, it was reported that Zachary was committed to a mental facility.
The New York Post reported that Zachary was removed from the home he has been living in and involuntarily committed to the facility under Florida’s Baker Act, which states that a person can be held involuntarily for up to 12 hours for a psychiatric exam.
A report from The Daily Mail revealed, however, that the involuntary commitment may have been due to false reports that Zachary would “finish what his older brother started.”
Zachary and Nikolas are not biological siblings. They are adoptive brothers, whose mother passed away in 2017.
Nikolas and his younger brother Zachary moved in with 42-year-old Rocxanne Deschamps shortly after their adoptive mother Lynda Cruz died on Nov. 1 after getting the flu and battling pneumonia. Deschamps had previously been their neighbor in Parkland, Florida before moving to Lake Worth.
Per the Daily Mail, Deschamps told law enforcement that Nikolas moved out after she told him that she would not allow him to bring guns in her house. After that, she says, he moved back to Parkland to live with a friend. Zachary continues to live with Deschamps and turned 18 in February.
On Feb. 15, Deschamps filed a petition to become the administrator of Lynda Cruz’s estate, the day after the shooting.
According to The Blast, Deschamps’ petition may simply have been a way of protecting Zachary’s half of his mother’s estate in the event that civil suits are filed against Nikolas with the intent of collecting damages.
A lawyer for Deschamps told the outlet that “it’s simply a probate filing to establish an administrator of the estate,” but refused to comment on the timing of the filing so soon after the shooting.
