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Brother of Parkland School Shooter Arrested for Trespassing, Held on $500,000 Bond

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Zachary-Cruz-231x300Zachary Cruz, the brother of the Parkland school shooter, was arrested Monday for allegedly trespassing on the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School campaus.

Cruz, 18, is charged with trespassing. He was ordered held on $500,000 bond, which is highly unusual for trespassing charges. The standard bond for trespassing is $25.

His brother, Nikolas, 20, shot and killed 14 people at Stoneman Douglas on February 14. He faces multiple murder charges as well as several attempted murder charges for the students he injured. He is being held without bond and potentially faces the death penalty.

Assistant State Attorney Sarahnell Murphy originally asked Zachary Cruz’s bond to be set at $750,000, saying he has “all the same flags” as his brother, and that the system that failed to protect the students of Stoneman Douglas cannot afford to make the same mistake with his brother.

Judge Mollica ruled that Cruz must wear an ankle monitor if he manages to post bail, and he must remain at least 500 feet away from any school or daycare center. He is also not allowed to return to Broward County except on official business.

According to Murphy, Cruz bragged to his brother during jailhouse conversations about “how popular” he is now and how many girls he is attracting because of the shooting. Murphy said the brothers talked about forming a fan club to take advantage of Nikolas’ notoriety.

After his arrest, Cruz told deputies that he went to the school to “reflect on the school shooting and soak it in,” the Palm Beach Post reports. The sheriff’s office said Cruz was previously warned by authorities to stay away from the school, but he ignored the orders and entered the campus for the third time on Monday.

Before the shooting, both brothers lived with a family friend, Rocxanne Deschamps, in a mobile home in Lantana. They moved in with Deschamps after the death of their mother in November last year. They were both once students at Stoneman Douglas.

Nikolas Cruz moved out of the Lantana home a month later after he had a dispute with Deschamps about his guns. Deschamps reportedly did not want any guns in her house. Cruz moved in with the family of one of his friends in Parkland. He shot up his old school a few months later.

After the shooting, Zachary Cruz allegedly told deputies he “doesn’t understand why his brother would have done this” and that “it’s not a realistic option to kill people.” In the same conversation, Zachary reportedly told deputies that he felt guilty about what happened and thought he could have prevented it.

“(He) explained that he and his friends, when they were younger, had bullied Nikolas, which he now regrets every doing. (He) wishes that he had been ‘nice’ to his brother,” the deputy wrote.

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Source: 3.20.18 Brother of Parkland gunman ordered held on $500,000 bond.pdf

Two Parkland Shooting Survivors to File Lawsuits Against School, FBI

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Kyle-Laman-300x169Two survivors of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting in Parkland, Florida, announced that they will sue the school, the Broward County Sheriff’s Office and the FBI for failing to prevent the shooting last month.

Anthony Borges, 15, announced through his attorney on March 5 that he plans to sue Broward Sheriff’s Office and Broward County Public School District, the Miami Herald reported.

The planned lawsuit will allege that more should have been done to protect the students and faculty inside Stoneman Douglas on February 14 when confessed gunman Nikolas Cruz walked into the school with an AR-15 rifle and killed 17 people.

“The failure of Broward County Public Schools and of the principal and school resource officer to adequately protect students, and in particular our client, from life-threatening harm were unreasonable, callous and negligent,” attorney Alex Arreaza wrote in the letter of intent. “Such action or inaction led to the personal injuries sustained by my client.”

Scot Peterson, the Broward County sheriff’s deputy who was guarding the school during the shooting, has been heavily criticized for failing to enter the building and stopping the gunman. Peterson resigned after he was suspended without pay by the sheriff’s office for how he handled the incident.

Borges was shot five times, three times in the legs and twice in the chest. His family is suing to seek money for his medical expenses. He has had multiple surgeries and is still recovering at Broward General Medical Center. He still can’t walk and requires help for even rudimentary tasks, according to the letter his attorney filed.

Borges has been called a hero after he tried to shut a classroom door when he was shot, saving almost 20 other students as the shooter got closer. The 15-year-old is a Boy Scout and reportedly used those lessons to tie a tourniquet on himself and stem the bleeding.

Another survivor announced on March 6 that he also plans to sue the school and the sheriff’s office as well as the FBI and Florida’s Department of Children and Families, according to the Miami Herald.

Kyle Laman, 15, plans to file a suit targeting each agency for how they handled the situation. The school and police department should have done more to protect students and the FBI and DCF failed to act on tips warning about Cruz’s violent intentions.

Laman was shot in the foot and has had two surgeries, with two more scheduled in the future. He is credited with providing police an accurate description of the gunman that led to Cruz’s arrest.

A Broward County Schools spokesperson declined to comment on the letters, but more lawsuits are expected in the coming months.

Personal Injury Attorney

If you (or your loved one) have been injured in a shooting, contact us to set up a free initial consultation and work with one of Florida’s most experienced personal injury defense attorneys.

Source: 3.6.18 Parkland survivors to file first lawsuits against school, FBI.pdf

Parkland School Shooting Suspect Nikolas Cruz Arrested on 17 Counts of Murder

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Nikolas-Cruz-169x300Nikolas Cruz, the suspected shooter in the mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Broward that killed 17 and left several more injured, is being charged with 17 counts of premeditated murder.

Cruz is being held without bond and has been kept separate from other inmates for his own safety. He is also required to wear a black suicide prevention vest as authorities think he might be a suicide risk. Cruz is represented by an attorney from the Broward Public Defender’s Office.

According to the police report, Cruz, who is a former Stoneman Douglas student, arrived at the school with a black duffel bag and backpack containing a semi-automatic rifle and loaded magazines in an Uber on Wednesday afternoon.

Cruz set off the school’s fire alarms to draw students out of classrooms before he began firing the rifle, according to details provided by police at a news conference on Thursday. He shot people inside five classrooms on the first and second floors of the freshman building before discarding the weapon, a vest and ammunition in a stairwell.

Cruz got away by blending in with the fleeing students. He walked to a nearby Walmart and bought a drink at a Subway. He also reportedly stopped at a McDonald’s. He was taken into custody without incident about an hour after the shooting in a residential neighborhood a mile away from the school. He reportedly had multiple loaded magazines in his possession.

Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School is one of the largest in the state with about 3,000 students. Cruz’s actions caused the deaths of 14 students and three faculty members.

Gordon Weekes, the chief assistant public defender, told the press that the lawyers are still trying to piece together the details of Cruz’s life. Cruz’s defense team hasn’t seen his medical records yet, but he reportedly shows clear signs of some degree of autism and has long suffered from mental illness.

“We have a strong belief that his mental illness will be a significant issue in the case and is a significant issue in how we got to this point,” Weekes said. It is unclear whether Cruz’s attorney will pursue a mental health defense.

The teenager was reportedly troubled by the sudden death of his mother, Lynda Cruz, from pneumonia last November. After her death, Cruz and his younger brother went to live with a family friend in Palm Beach County, but the 19-year-old was purportedly not happy.

He asked a friend he knew from Stoneman Douglas if he could move in with his family in northwest Broward. The friend’s family, the Sneads, agreed and Cruz has reportedly been living with them since Thanksgiving. The Sneads gave Cruz his own room and encouraged him to work toward his GED. Cruz also managed to get a job at a local Dollar Tree store.

Cruz legally bought the AR-15 rifle he used in the shooting. The Sneads never saw him use the gun but they knew he owned one. It was kept in a locked gun cabinet but Cruz reportedly had access to a key.

“The family is devastated, they didn’t see this coming. They took him in and it’s a classic case of no good deed goes unpunished,” Jim Lewis, the Sneads’ attorney, told the press. “He was a little quirky and he was depressed about his mom’s death, but who wouldn’t be?”

Weekes said state prosecutors will almost certainly seek the death penalty for Cruz after he is formally charged, but the decision could take weeks or months.

Source: 2.15.18 Suspect Confessed to Police That He Began Shooting Students ‘in the Hallways’.pdf