Seven disturbing details about Ethan Crumbley’s ‘fugitive’ parents who bought son, 15, a gun for Christmas present
NEW chilling details continue to emerge in the case of accused Oxford High School shooter Ethan Crumbley, whose parents are now considered fugitives after failing to surrender to police on Friday afternoon.
Jennifer and James Crumbley had been scheduled to hand themselves over to police in Michigan at 2pm local time to each be arraigned in court on four counts of involuntary manslaughter.
However, as of early Friday evening, the couple's whereabouts are currently unknown.
The Oakland County Fugitive Team, along with the FBI and U.S Marshal Service are currently searching for Jennifer, 43, and James, 45.
It is not known whether there has been a mistake or if they're actively attempting to flee law enforcement.
ON THE RUN?
They were last seen by the public on Thursday when they tuned in to their 15-year-old son's virtual arrangement from a car after he was indicted on murder, terrorism, and assault charges in relation to his alleged rampage at Oxford High on Monday that left four dead and seven others injured, including a teacher.
In a statement to The Daily Beast, an attorney for the Crumbley family denied claims the couple is attempting to evade police, writing: "The Crumbleys left town on the night of the tragic shooting for their own safety. They are returning to the area to be arraigned.
"They are not fleeing from law enforcement despite recent comments in media reports."
Jennifer and James were charged with involuntary manslaughter on Friday after prosecutors claimed their actions went "far beyond negligence" in the days prior to their son's deadly massacre.
Under Michigan law, an involuntary manslaughter charge can be pursued if prosecutors believe someone contributed to a situation where harm or death was high. If convicted, they could face up to 15 years in prison.
GUN SHOPPING
According to police, the gun used in Monday's shooting was a Sig Sauer 9mm handgun that Ethan's parents had bought for him as an early Christmas present the day after Thanksgiving.
The now-accused murderer, who will be tried as an adult, reportedly boasted about the weapon on social media, uploading a photo of it to Instagram and calling it his "new beauty."
The following day, Jennifer penned her own Instagram post detailing how she and Ethan had spent the day testing the new gun.
"Mom and son day testing out his new Christmas present," Jennifer is said to have written in the since-deleted post.
Three days later, on the morning of the shooting, a teacher at Oxford High summoned Jennifer and James to the school after finding a disturbing note on the teen's desk.
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Oakland County prosecutor Karen McDonald said the note included the drawing of a semi-automatic handgun pointing towards the words "the thoughts won't stop, help me," and "blood everywhere."
Also included in the sickening drawing was purportedly the body of a person who had been shot twice, along with a laughing emoji and the words "my life is useless" and "the world is dead."
Ethan was removed from the classroom and Jennifer and James were instructed to get their son counseling within 48 hours.
They allegedly pushed back against the suggestion of removing him from school for the rest of the day and instead Ethan returned to class.
Shortly afterward, investigators say Ethan Crumbley exited a school bathroom and began moving through a hallway at a "methodical pace", indiscriminately shooting students in hallways and classrooms at close range.
Crumbley then surrendered to cops around five minutes after the attack began. He reportedly handed over the same Sig Sauer 9mm that he bragged his parents had bought him on social media days earlier.
DAD'S 911 CALL
Authorities say they believe Crumbley intended to claim the lives of more victims, having found two 15-round clips and suggesting he may have stashed a third somewhere.
When news of an active shooter at the school became public, Jennifer reportedly texted her son, "Ethan, don't do it."
Fifthteen minutes after Jennifer's text, James Crumbley called 911 to report a gun was missing from their home and that his son may have been the shooter, but it was too late.
"I have tremendous compassion and empathy for parents who have children who are struggling and at risk for whatever reason," McDonald said on Thursday. "But the facts of this are so egregious.
"The parents were the only individuals in the position to know the access to weapons," McDonald continued.
The gun "seems to have been just freely available to that individual."
UNSECURED GUN
According to prosecutors, the gun was stored in an unlocked safe inside Jennifer and James' bedroom.
It's rare for parents to be charged in relation to school shootings carried out by their children, even as most minors get guns from a parent or relative's house
There's no Michigan law that requires gun owners to keep weapons locked away from children. McDonald, however, suggested there's more to build a case on.
"All I can say at this point is those actions on mom and dad's behalf go far beyond negligence," she told WJR-AM.
"We obviously are prosecuting the shooter to the fullest extent. ... There are other individuals who should be held accountable."
'DON'T GET CAUGHT'
James and Jennifers meeting with teachers at Oxford High on the morning of the shooting came off the back of a second meeting just days earlier in which teachers again raised concerns over Ethan's behavior.
On November 21, a teacher reportedly found Ethan searching for ammunition on his cell phone during class and reported the incident to senior staff at the school.
Administrators left a voicemail for Jennifer Crumbley and followed up with an email but apparently received no response.
Text message records show Jennifer texted her son later that day.
She's alleged to have written: "Lol I'm not mad at you, you have to learn not to get caught."
That message was sent five days before the parents purchased that gun that police say was used to carry out the massacre.
PARENTS' LEGAL WOES
The day after James bought Ethan the weapon, on November 27, a woman in Florida filed a complaint against him for thousands in unpaid child support, the Daily Beast reports.
Details surrounding the complaint remain unclear, however, the petition was filed by James' ex-wife, with whom he shares his 18-year-old son Eli, Ethan's half-brother.
Both Jennifer and James have had previous run-ins with the law before, including DUI charges in Florida.
According to online records in Duval County, Florida, James and Jennifer Crumbley were charged with DUI on Feb. 12, 2005, pleaded no contest, and were each fined $652.
James was also busted by the Atlantic Beach Police Department for driving with a suspended license and having an improper tag the same year. He paid a fine of more than $200 for that charge.
Two years earlier, Jennifer was also accused of writing a bogus check for $150, but the misdemeanor case was later tossed out.
She committed the same offense in 2004 and was fined $240, records show.
STRANGE LETTER
Money appears to have been an issue for the Crumbleys for a number of years, as indicated by an open letter penned by Jennifer to then-President-Elect Donald Trump in November 2016.
In her note, Jennifer insisted she was "scared s**tless" to vote for Trump in 2016, identifying herself as a supporter of the LGBTQ community and a feminist.
"I value womens rights [sic] and want to be alive when I see the first woman become President," she wrote. "But as an American Woman, with a 10-year-old child I could not have that first woman be Hillary."
She continued: "Mr. Trump, I actually love that you are a bad public speaker because that showed sincerity, and humility. You changed your mind, and you said 'so what'.
"You made the famous 'grab them in the p**sy” comment, did it offend me? No. I say things all the time that people take the wrong way, do I mean them, not always. Do I agree that you should have shown your tax returns? No. I don’t care what you do or maybe don’t pay in taxes."
Jennifer went on to tell the then-president-in-waiting that she hoped he would "really uncover the politicians for what I believe they really are,” and that he might “shut down Big Pharma, make health care affordable for me and my MIDDLE CLASS family again.”
Jennifer also revealed that she was a supporter of Trump's border wall proposal, but countered that she was "not racist" because her grandfather "came straight off the boat in Italy."
"If you want to be here, work here, live here damnit [sic], f**king earn it and prove it," she added.
"As a female and a Realtor, thank you for allowing my right to bear arms," the letter continued. "Allowing me to be protected if I show a home to someone with bad intentions. Thank you for respecting that Amendment."
Jennifer also bemoaned Obamacare doubling her family's insurance premiums, writing the Crumbleys were "good f**king Americans that cannot get ahead.
"And what makes me sick, is people that come over here from other countries and get free everything," she added.
In the corresponding passage, Jennifer asked Trump to "stop common core", which is a set of educational standards for teaching and testing English and math between kindergarten and 12th grade.
"You see Mr. Trump, I need you to stop common core. My son struggles daily, and my teachers tell me they hate teaching it but the [sic] HAVE to. Their pay depends on these stupid f**king test scores.
"I have to pay for a Tutor, why? Because I can’t figure out 4th-grade math. I used to be good at math. I can’t afford a Tutor, in fact I sacrifice car insurance to make sure my son gets a good education and hopefully succeeds in life."
She then complained about "illegal immigrant parents" and their kids from a school where her parents taught.
"Most of their parents are locked up. They don’t care about learning and threaten to kill my mom for caring about their grades," she wrote.
"Do you realize Mr. Trump that they get free tutors, free tablets from our Government so they can succeed? Why cant my son get those things, do we as hard-working Americans not deserve that too?"
She continued: "Mr. Trump, this is why I voted for you. I see the change that we so desperately need. I see jobs coming back, people having to work for their handouts, money going to who really deserve it.
"I believe YOU are the President who will make these things happen. I have NEVER had this much belief in one person, and you are it."
Jennifer signed the letter from a "hard-working Middle-Class Law Abiding Citizen who is sick of getting f**ked in the a** and would rather be grabbed by the p**sy."
Her husband James Crumbley later shared the post to Facebook, writing: "My wife can be spot on. Sometimes."
HORRIFIC MASSACRE
More than five years on, Jennifer and James Crumbley appeared virtually in court on Wednesday as their son was charged following the shooting rampage at Oxford High School.
No information about a possible motive has yet been released by investigators, however, unfounded speculation has been rife that Crumbley was bullied in school.
Oakland County Sheriff’s Lieutenant Tim Willis said law enforcement searched Crumbley's home and found "two separate videos recovered from Ethan’s cellphone".
Speaking to Judge Nancy Carniak during Crumbley's arraignment, Willis said the videos were "made by him the night before the incident, wherein he talked about shooting and killing students the next day at Oxford High School.”
Authorities also found Crumbley's backpack and found a journal "detailing his desire to shoot up the school, to include murdering students," Willis said.
Crumbley’s social media pages - which were removed by Wednesday - have also given possible evidence that the attack may have been planned long before it happened.
In a post on his alleged Instagram account, Crumbley had a “countdown to return of devil" and wrote, "now I become death -- destroyer of worlds -- see you tomorrow Oxford.”
The countdown ended on the day of the shooting.
Ethan Crumbley has pleaded not guilty to 24 felony counts, including one count of terrorism, four counts of first-degree murder, seven counts of assault with intent to murder, and 12 counts of possession of a firearm.
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He has been transferred from a juvenile lockup to the Oakland County Jail, where authorities say he is under suicide watch.
His next court appearance is slated for December 13.
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