By Maler Suresh
On November 30, a gunman, who is thought to be fifteen year old student Ethan Crumbley opened fire at Oxford High School. Eleven people were shot, and four students were killed. This tragic event has been the deadliest out of 28 reported school shootings that have occurred this past year.
In the middle of the school day, the suspect emerged from a bathroom and fired 30 shots with a semiautomatic handgun before deputies apprehended him. The day before the shooting, a teacher had seen Crumbley looking for ammunition online, and on the day of the shooting, Crumbley’s parents were urgently called into the school after after one of his teachers found a note he had drawn, scrawled with images of a gun, a person who had been shot and a laughing emoji. The note said “Blood everywhere,” and, “The thoughts won’t stop. Help me.” School officials told Crumbley’s parents that they were required to seek counseling for their son and take him home for the day, but his parents did not want him removed from school. Crumbley never ended up leaving the school premises, and he was not asked whether he had a gun with him, nor was his bag searched, all of which allowed him to carry out the shooting.
Crumbley was charged as an adult with one count of terrorism causing death and four counts of first-degree murder, which could lead to a life sentence if he is convicted. And, in a rare move, prosecutors have also filed manslaughter charges against his parents, James and Jennifer Crumbley, who purchased the semiautomatic handgun on Black Friday as a gift for their son. They have each been charged with four counts of involuntary manslaughter. After the charges were announced, Michigan law enforcement and the U.S. Marshals Service conducted a search from Crumbley’s parents, who had fled. They have since been caught and placed in the same jail as their son, each of them isolated from each other. James and Jennifer Crumbley’s lawyer maintains that the couple was planning to return for their arraignment, and that they were not fleeing from law enforcement.
Oxford High School will be closed for the rest of the week as the township mourns the loss of the lives of Tate Myre (16), Hana St. Juliana (14), Madisyn Baldwin (17), and Justin Shilling (17).
