Zachary Cruz, the younger brother of confessed Parkland, Florida school shooter Nikolas Cruz, has been arrested for trespassing at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, where his brother took 17 lives last month.
Cruz was arrested on Monday afternoon by the Broward County Sheriff’s Office for trespassing at the school, according to a report by The Palm Beach Post. The 18-year-old said he went to the campus to “reflect on the school shooting and soak it in,” according to an arrest report acquired by the outlet.
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The sheriff’s office told reporters that Cruz rode his skateboard through campus at around 4:30 p.m. on Monday. The teen reportedly bypassed a number of locked doors and gates, despite having been warned to stay away from the campus. Both school officials and police have instructed him not to enter Stoneman Douglas High since the shooting.
Deputies also told the outlet that Cruz no longer has any connections with Broward County. His last known address was in a Latana-area mobile home with his mother’s close friend, Rocxanne Deschamps, and her family. Both of the Cruz brothers moved in with Deschamps following their adopted mother’s death in November 2017. However, Nikolas Cruz moved out at the end of that month following a violent fight with Deschamps’ son.
The elder Cruz brother, 19, has been held without bail in Broward County Jail since Feb. 14. He carried an AR-15 assault rifle into his former high school on Valentine’s Day. He has been charged with a 34-count indictment — 17 counts of murder and 17 counts of attempted murder, for the people he wounded.
On March 13, prosecutors filed papers signifying their intent to pursue the death penalty against the confessed shooter. Previously, Cruz’s attorneys had hoped to strike a plea deal exempting the 19-year-old from capital punishment.
The following day, Cruz stood mute at his arraignment, refusing to enter a plea. Judge Elizabeth Scherer entered a plea of “not guilty” on his behalf. He was arraigned on the same day that students across the country walked out of class in solidarity with the survivors from Stoneman Douglas High, calling for action on gun laws. Cruz is due back in court on Friday, April 27.
Zachary Cruz received a full psychological evaluation following his brother’s arrest. He told investigators that, as he drove home with Deschamps after learning of the shooting, he said “I don’t want to be alive. I don’t want to deal with this stuff.”
However, he said he didn’t want kill himself, or carry out any act of self-harm.
