Deputies with the Broward County Sheriffâs Office stopped the brother, Zachary Cruz, at about 4:30 p.m. after he rode a skateboard onto school property.
Cruz, 18, told the deputies that he decided to visit the school to âreflect on the school shooting and to soak it in,â according to the sheriffâs office.
Cruz was arrested on one count of trespassing on the grounds or facility of a school, a misdemeanor. The sheriffâs office said that school officials had ordered Cruz to stay away from Stoneman Douglas High. It was not immediately clear when Cruz had received those warnings.
On Monday night, Cruz was being held with bail set at $25 in the same Broward County jail where his brother, who faces 17 counts of premeditated murder, is being held without bond.
Broward County Public Schools did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Monday night. It was not clear whether Cruz had a lawyer yet.
Zachary Cruz, who, like his brother, was adopted, had a strained relationship with him. Cruz has lived with a guardian since his motherâs death in November 2017. Two days after the school shooting, he told deputies from the Palm Beach County Sheriffâs Office that he regretted that he and his friends had bullied his older brother.
âZachary wishes that he had been ânicerâ to his brother,â the deputiesâ report said, adding that Nikolas âmay have been the favored brother.â
He also told the authorities that he felt as if âsomeone was trying to get meâ and that he was upset about media coverage of the shooting. He said he was âscared as he thought he had heard people outside,â the sheriffâs report said.
âZachary stated that he does feel somewhat responsible and guilty about the incident and that he could have possibly prevented this,â the report continued.
This article originally appeared in The New York Times.
MATTHEW HAAG © 2018 The New York Times