The Broward Sheriff's Office arrested 2 Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School students today for bringing knives to school, per BSO. A third was arrested for making threatening posts on Snapchat.
Also, a BSO deputy patrolling the inside of the school was suspended after a student reported that the deputy was asleep on duty. Deputy Moises Carotti has been placed under internal investigation.
And BSO filed for a risk protection order against Zachary Cruz, to prohibit him from possessing or acquiring firearms. This is under the new "red flag" protections created by Florida's new gun law passed after the Parkland shooting.
Zachary Cruz was arrested Monday for trespassing on Stoneman Douglas High grounds. In a court appearance Tuesday, the judge set his bond at $500K -- unusually high for this offense -- in part because it was the third time Cruz was spotted on campus since the shooting.
The prosecutor also said Zachary Cruz visited his brother, Nikolas Cruz, in jail and admired his brother's popularity, now that "his face is everywhere and his name is national."
Zachary Cruz will be committed for mental evaluation. If he posts bond, he will face a host of restrictions, including a GPS ankle monitor and a ban from setting foot on any Broward school or approaching anyone from Stoneman Douglas.
His home in Palm Beach County will also be searched for weapons and ammunition. He lives there with his late mother's friend, Rocxanne Deschamps, who spoke publicly for the first time in New York today.
Deschamps said she called 911 three times about Nikolas Cruz over his guns, which she feared posed a risk to her young son. When she was alive, Lynda Cruz had told her Nikolas had held a gun against her head, Deschamps said.
Deschamps eventually kicked Nikolas Cruz out of her house. Zachary Cruz, however, still lives with her. She was in New York on Monday when Zachary Cruz was arrested for trespassing at Stoneman Douglas.
Zachary Cruz was involuntarily committed for mental evaluation under Florida's Baker Act law two days after the shooting, per Broward prosecutor Sarahnell Murphy. BSO said he will be committed again, post-trespassing. Law allows at least 72 hours of commitment for exam.
When Palm Beach Sheriff's deputies interviewed Zachary Cruz on Feb. 16, he expressed no homicidal thoughts. But there were guns in the Deschamps home, and Cruz said he felt bad about bullying his brother, so deputies recommended a mental evaluation anyway.
Of note re Zachary Cruz: Murphy, the prosecutor who requested to raise his bond to keep him in jail, said some Stoneman Douglas parents were so spooked by his trespassing on Monday that they kept their children home from school on Tuesday.
Also, of note re the deputy suspended without pay: A student reported seeing the deputy asleep shortly after 5 p.m. Monday. Zachary Cruz was skateboarding on campus at 4:30 p.m.
Gov. Rick Scott said in letter to Broward sheriff and schools chief Tuesday he heard from parents still worried about safety at the school. Scott ordered an armed law enforcement officer at every Stoneman Douglas point of entry and offered Florida Highway Patrol officers to help
Sen. Marco Rubio has weighed in on the now-suspended sheriff’s deputy who fell asleep while on patrol at Stoneman Douglas: “Of all the schools in America, you would think this would be the safest one right now. This is so outrageous it’s almost impossible to believe.”
The superintendent of Broward schools:
The Broward sheriff:
Recap of a newsy Tuesday in Parkland, with @anemonanyc nytimes.com/2018/03/20/us/…
Update: The Broward sheriff spoke to the Florida Highway Patrol and asked for eight troopers to secure Stoneman Douglas entryways. They will report to school Thursday, per governor's office.
