He knew the curve of the skate park’s dips and lifts, the sound his board made as it grinded against metal, the sting of a wipeout that meant he’d almost landed his trick. 14, 2018, in the place he could almost always be found. And every few minutes, Zach looked up again, hoping his brother would acknowledge that he was still here.Ī childhood photo of Zach Cruz, left, and his brother, Nikolas Cruz, whom he calls Nik. “I’m stuck between loving him and hating him because of what he did.” To distance himself was to abandon the only real family he has left. To support Nik was to forever tie himself to the heinous crime his brother admitted to committing.
But unlike for the relatives of the Columbine, Virginia Tech and Sandy Hook shooters, his brother, for now, was still alive. Zach alone had joined the growing collective of people whose siblings or children became mass shooters. He and Nik never knew their biological parents, and their adoptive parents were dead. Zach looked back down at his skateboarding shoes. “We’re coming up on the anniversary of this incident.” The state of Florida, renowned for imposing death sentences, was seeking one for 20-year-old Nik.
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“We would like to have a trial date to work toward,” a prosecutor was telling the judge. Hundreds more had their lives upended: parents suddenly without children, students rallying for gun control by day and dealing with panic attacks at night, first responders denounced for the choices they made amid the chaos. Seventeen others were injured, left with lasting scars, physical and mental. There in a red jumpsuit was his brother, Nikolas Cruz, who had confessed to carrying out a massacre at his former high school.įourteen students and three staff members were killed that Valentine’s Day at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High in Parkland. They stepped aside and he stepped into the courtroom. Out the elevator, down the hall, past the news reporters and up to the doors guarded by sheriff’s deputies. But for his brother, he had come back again and again. He tugged at his tie, the one he’d borrowed because he forgot his suit. He emptied his pockets at security and hustled onto the elevator. He kept his head down as he walked into the judicial complex, knowing his presence would attract stares.
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