Officials using Florida’s new ‘Red Flag’ law to block Nikolas Cruz’s brother from owning gun

One of the first uses of a Florida law passed in the wake of last month’s mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School was targeted at — the suspect’s brother.

According to a report Tuesday evening in the Miami Herald, the Broward Sheriff’s Office has petitioned the courts for a “Red Flag” order that would bar Zachary Cruz, 18, from possessing a firearm.

The new law, know as the Baker Act and passed earlier this month, allows police to file a “risk protection order” that would allow them to take guns from someone and bar new purchases until that person can show he is mentally competent to own a gun.

And Tuesday, one such order was served on Cruz, the 18-year-old brother of Nikolas Cruz, whom authorities say killed 17 people at his former high school.

“If the RPO is granted, it will prohibit Cruz from possessing and acquiring firearms for a period of time to be determined by the court,” the sheriff’s office said.

This is the second unusual action Florida authorities have taken against Zachary Cruz.

SEE ALSO: Nikolas Cruz’s brother arrested after entering Marjory Stoneman Douglas to ‘soak it in’

On Tuesday, he was ordered held on $500,000 bond after being arrested for trespassing at Douglas High School despite having been repeatedly told to keep away from the school his brother had made notorious.

According to an arrest report, when police found him skateboarding at Douglas, he told a deputy he wanted to “soak in” what his brother had done.

His bond attorney protested such a steep bail demand for trespassing, saying the usual bond is $25 and Cruz had paid it.

“He’s being held because of who he’s related to, not because of what he did,” the lawyer said, according to the Herald.