Brother of Parkland mass shooter arrested in Virginia, charged with trespassing at three schools

The younger member of the antheral down the 2018 Parkland wide shooting was arrested successful Virginia connected Tuesday aft deputies accidental helium trespassed connected aggregate schoolhouse properties aft hours, trying to get inside.

Zachary P. Cruz, 24, is present charged with 3 misdemeanor counts of trespassing connected schoolhouse oregon religion spot astatine night, the Augusta County Sheriff’s Office said successful a quality merchandise connected Facebook. He has since been released from jail.

The apprehension comes a week earlier the Feb. 14 day of the Stoneman Douglas massacre that killed 17 people.

The probe began aft Cruz “was observed” connected the Woodrow Wilson Rehabilitation Center Complex successful Fishersville, Va., astir a half-hour earlier midnight connected Jan. 25, the Sheriff’s Office said. The WWRC, which provides services to radical with disabilities seeking work, is located adjacent to aggregate schools.

Deputies, joined by Virginia State Police and the Woodrow Wilson Police Department, reviewed surveillance footage from Augusta County Public Schools and recovered that, the aforesaid nighttime that Cruz went to the rehabilitation center, helium visited 3 schools: Wilson Middle School, Wilson High School, and the Valley Career and Technical Center, each located wrong the aforesaid area, according to the release.

The footage depicted Cruz approaching the schools’ doors, trying to unfastened them, and “peering inside,” the merchandise said.

Broward Sheriff’s Office deputies had antecedently arrested Cruz connected trespassing charges successful 2018 aft helium skateboarded onto the Marjory Stoneman Douglas field successful Parkland a period aft the wide shooting. Nikolas Cruz was sentenced to beingness successful prison after pleading blameworthy successful the killings of 17 radical and injuring different 17.

A erstwhile student, similar the shooter, he’d been warned to enactment disconnected the property, authorities said. He told a lawman helium went determination due to the fact that helium wanted to “soak it in.” He was involuntarily hospitalized nether Florida’s Baker Act. A judge set his enslaved astatine $500,000, unheard of for a trespassing charge, retired of fears that helium could airs a menace to the nationalist similar his brother. He pleaded nary contention and was sentenced to six months’ probation.

Cruz past sought support to determination to Virginia to commencement anew after the wide shooting and his ain run-ins with instrumentality enforcement. An enactment called Nexus Services had offered him lodging astatine a condo successful Staunton, astir 20 minutes from Fishersville, a occupation arsenic a attraction mechanic, and counseling.

Cruz was released from the Middle River Regional Jail Thursday afternoon, according to an update posted by the Augusta County Sheriff’s Office.

“I recognize however troubling this concern has been for you, your families, and our community,” Sheriff Donald Smith wrote successful the update. “The information and information of each students, unit and assemblage members are our apical priorities. I privation to guarantee you this substance is being taken precise seriously.”

Deputies person “implemented heightened information measures” astir the schools, Smith added, “including accrued instrumentality enforcement beingness connected and astir schoolhouse grounds. Additionally, we are intimately monitoring immoderate imaginable threats and staying successful connection with schoolhouse officials to guarantee each indispensable precautions are successful place.”

Information from the South Florida Sun-Sentinel archives was utilized successful this report.