PBS and NPR for Southwest Florida
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Police Baker Act Brother Of Parkland Shooter, Petition To Block Him From Owning A Gun

The brother of Nikolas Cruz, Zachary Cruz, center, leaves the courtroom after his brother's arraignment before Broward Circuit Judge Elizabeth Scherer, Wednesday, March 14, 2018, in Fort Lauderdale.
Associated Press
The brother of Nikolas Cruz, Zachary Cruz, center, leaves the courtroom after his brother's arraignment before Broward Circuit Judge Elizabeth Scherer, Wednesday, March 14, 2018, in Fort Lauderdale.

Alarmed by his repeated visits to Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School and his infatuation with his sibling’s notoriety as a mass murderer, prosecutors and police moved Tuesday to keep the younger brother of  Parkland shooter Nikolas Cruzlocked up on trespassing charges and to strip him of his ability to own a gun.

In a bond hearing for Zachary Cruz, assistant Broward state attorney Sarahnell Murphy said that the younger of the two brothers has been overheard admiring the elder’s “popularity” during jailhouse visits, and has talked about setting up a fan club for 19-year-old Nikolas. She also said Zachary was ignoring a vice principal’s order to stay away from the school when a  Broward Sheriff’s Office deputy arrested him Mondayfor skateboarding on campus after dismissal.

Cruz, facing only a misdemeanor charge for the trespassing arrest,  was slapped with a $500,000 bondby Judge Kim Theresa Mollica and ordered to undergo a psychological evaluation. But so worried is the Broward Sheriff’s Office that it moved Tuesday to have Zachary Cruz involuntarily committed, and petitioned a judge to strip him of his right to own or possess a gun under a new state law passed as a result of Nikolas Cruz’s Feb. 14 rampage.

Read more at our news partner, the Miami Herald.

Copyright 2020 WLRN 91.3 FM. To see more, visit .

David Smiley