Oxford High School ‘shooter’ Ethan Crumbley, 15, charged with TERRORISM and murder after ‘killing 4 with dad’s gun’
A 15-YEAR-old student has been charged with terrorism and murder after allegedly killing four of his classmates with his father’s gun.
Ethan Crumbley, a sophomore at the school, will be charged as an adult after prosecutors said Wednesday they are “confident” they can show the crime was premeditated.
Deputies rushed to the school around lunchtime and arrested the suspect in a hallway within minutes.
He put his hands in the air as deputies approached, Oakland County Sheriff Michael Bouchard said late Tuesday at a news conference.
On Wednesday, Oakland County Prosecutor Karen McDonald said Crumbley will be charged with one count of terrorism causing death and four counts of first-degree murder.
He also faces seven counts of assault with intent to murder and 12 counts of possession of a firearm in the commission of a felony.
PARENTS CALLED TO SCHOOL
Oakland County Sheriff Bouchard said the suspect came out of the bathroom armed with a 9MM semi-automatic handgun, fired around 15-20 shots in the south end of the school building and acted alone.
The sheriff later told reporters that the boy’s parents had been summoned to the school before the violence. Bouchard wouldn’t discuss details of the behavior school officials were concerned about.
It comes as:
- Ethan Crumbley was charged Wednesday with murder and terrorism
- Police said his parents were called to the school before the violence
- Posts appear to show he had a “countdown” to the shooting
- A fourth student died Wednesday following Tuesday’s rampage
- Police say the suspect’s father bought the gun used on Friday
- A deer’s head was left on school grounds weeks before shooting
“There is nothing that he could have faced that would warrant senseless, absolutely brutal violence on other kids,” he said.
A preliminary investigation shows that the weapon he is alleged to have used was purchased on November 26 by his father.
The students killed at the Oxford high school shooting have been identified as Tate Myre, 16, Hana St. Juliana, 14, and Madisyn Baldwin, 17.
At approximately 10am on Wednesday, Justin Shilling, 15, who was in critical condition after the shooting, passed away from his injuries.
Prosecutor McDonald added that her office is weighing charging both of Crumbley’s parents and will be making charging decisions “swiftly”.
The prosecutor said that evidence suggests the school shooting “was not an impulsive act” and may have been premeditated.
“There is a mountain of digital evidence, we are confident that we can show there was premeditation,” she said.
MacDonald said the investigation is ongoing and additional charges could be filed in the future.
CRUMBLEY APPEARS IN COURT
On Wednesday afternoon, the alleged shooter appeared in court via video for his arraignment.
Crumbley, who was sporting a white face mask and glasses, was seated with his hands handcuffed in front of him and wearing what appeared to be an anti-suicide vest.
His parents Jennifer and James Crumbley, also attended the arraignment via video.
The alleged gunman only spoke when asked by the judge to state his name and whether he understood the charges against him.
During the court hearing, prosecutors revealed that investigators recovered a video of Crumbley recorded the night before where he discussed killing students.
Crumbley was denied bail and will remain behind bars, isolated from other adult inmates.
The 15-year-old faces life in prison if found guilty.
PREVIOUS THREATS
Crumbley is currently being held at a juvenile detention facility, where he has been placed on suicide watch – with someone checking on him every 15 minutes. He is set to be arraigned on Wednesday afternoon.
MacDonald called for better gun laws, saying: “If the incident yesterday with four children being murdered and multiple kids being injured is not enough to revisit our gun laws, I don’t know what is.”
Eight others, including a teacher, were injured in the shooting on Tuesday afternoon at the high school in Oxford, .
It emerged on Wednesday that had a deer’s head dumped on its grounds and was covered in red paint just days before the shooting.
School administrators had posted two letters to parents on the school’s website in November, saying they were responding to rumors of a threat against the school following a bizarre vandalism incident.
Both the sheriff and undersheriff emphasized that Tuesday’s shooting was unrelated to the deer head or any earlier investigation by their office.
“That was a different incident, different student,” Undersheriff Mike McCabe said.
But according to a November 4 letter written by Principal Steve Wolf, someone threw a deer head into a courtyard from the school’s roof.
They also painted several windows on the roof with red acrylic paint and used the same paint on the concrete near the school building during the early morning hours.
Without specifically referencing that incident, a second post on November 12 assured: “there has been no threat to our building nor our students.”
But one concerned parent, Robin Redding, said her son, Treshan Bryant, is a 12th grader at the school but stayed home Tuesday.
Redding said her son had heard threats that there could be a shooting.
“This couldn’t be just random,” she said.
On Wednesday, Sheriff Bouchard said Crumbley and his parents met with school administrators the morning of the shooting due to concerns about the 15-year-old’s behavior the day before.
However, the sheriff said the school never contacted law enforcement about their concerns.
THREATS ‘FOR A LONG TIME’
Bryant said he texted several younger cousins in the morning and they said they didn’t want to go to school, and he got a bad feeling.
He asked his mom if he could do his assignments online.
Bryant said he had heard vague threats “for a long time now” about plans for a shooting.
Tate Myre, 16, Hana St. Juliana, 14, and 17-year-old Madisyn Baldwin were on Tuesday named as the three victims of the shooting.
Tate was a “standout” football player and died from his injuries on the way to the hospital in the back of a patrol car.
Classmates said that he tried to disarm the shooter.
VICTIMS NAMED
A second victim, Madisyn Bladwin, was expected to graduate this year and her family said that she had been accepted into several colleges, according to
She also loved to draw, read and write and was the eldest of three siblings.
Oakland County Sheriff Bouchard told that seven students and a teacher were shot. Three are said to be in a critical condition with gunshot wounds, according to the cop.
Hours after Crumbley was arrested, authorities swarmed his home, located about a half-mile east of the high school.
They have seized the shooter’s phone and will be performing an inventory of items taken from the home.
described Crumbley as a “bespectacled boy” who appeared in a local newspaper in 2017.
Per the outlet, the boy was a fifth-grader at the international baccalaureate school.
At the time, Crumbley was part of a group of students working on a project about poverty and expressed sympathy for the homeless and hungry.
Aiden Page, a senior student, said his teacher barricaded the door and instructed pupils to hide after hearing gunshots.
He told CNN: “We grabbed calculators, we grabbed scissors just in case the shooter got in, and we had to attack them.”
THREE VICTIMS IN CRITICAL CONDITION
After the press conference, students were pictured being consoled by their parents as school buses lined up outside.
Others were seen on the phone as the students stood huddled together in groups in the snowy weather.
Cars were also lined up outside as students were allowed to make their way home.
Three victims are said to be in critical condition with gunshot wounds.
A 14-year-old girl is fighting for her life on a ventilator after having surgery.
The shooter’s motive remains unknown, and cops confirmed a handgun was recovered.
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