Ethan Crumbley school shooting – Parents James and Jennifer ‘haven’t shown any remorse’ since arrest, sheriff says
THE alleged Oakland High School shooter Ethan Crumbley and his parents have not “shown any remorse, the local sheriff has said.
Oakland County Sheriff Michael Bouchard said James, 45, and his wife Jennifer, 43, were “obviously sullen” but added they hadn’t spoken much since they were detained.
Bouchard, in an interview Saturday, said: “'We’ve not seen any remorse. I don’t know whether the sullenness is from being caught or whether it’s from other emotions that are going on, but they haven’t expressed it to us.”
Ethan Crumbley’s parents are currently being held in lieu of $500,000 cash bail.
Officials tracked down the teenager’s parents to a basement in Bellevue Street, Detroit, Michigan, early Saturday after authorities launched a manhunt for the pair.
The parents are thought to gone on the run after involuntary manslaughter charges were issued against them.
Bouchard said Saturday afternoon that all three Crumbleys are being held in the county’s jail and are on suicide watch and being kept in isolation.
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“There is no indication that any of them were suicidal, but out an abundance of caution our amazing corrections team is doing suicide watches on all three of them,” Bouchard said. “They are in custody and in isolation.”
Bouchard also revealed they are looking into the possibility Crumbley’s parents were helped by an accomplice in their flight from justice.
“We believe they were assisted in that location to get there, to get in. We're gathering that information, and we're going to have the totality of that done fairly soon and present that to our prosecutor for potential charges, for either aiding and abetting or obstruction of justice,” said Bouchard.
Both James and Jennifer Crumbley pleaded not guilty to charges of manslaughter when they made their first court appearance Saturday morning.
The Crumbleys attorneys issued a statement ahead of their arraignment.
Shannon Smith and Mariell Lehman said Saturday morning: "We understand that our clients were apprehended last night although we fully intended to turn them in first thing this morning for arraignment, contrary to the misinformation that has been rampant in the media.
"Unfortunately, this case presents the most unimaginable tragedy for every single person involved, including every member of the community.
"While it’s human nature to want to find someone to blame or something to point to or something that gives us answers, the charges in this case are intended to make an example and send a message.
"The prosecution has very much cherry-picked and slanted specific facts to further their narrative to do that.
"We intend to fight this case in the courtroom and not in the court of public opinion. We know that in the end the entire story and truth will prevail."
Ethan Crumbley, a sophomore at Oxford High School, will be charged with one count of terrorism causing death and four counts of first-degree murder in the shooting that killed Hana St. Juliana, 14, Madisyn Baldwin, 17, Tate Myre, 16, and Justin Shilling, 17.
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.
Bouchard told reporters Saturday: “We have clear evidence this was premeditated and he was actually looking forward to it.”
According to prosecutors, the gun - a semiautomatic 9mm Sig Sauer - was stored in an unlocked safe inside Jennifer and James' bedroom.
Ethan reportedly got the weapon as an early Christmas present on 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."
It has also emerged that James Crumbley called 911 40 minutes after his son allegedly shot four people dead to report a gun was missing from their home and that his son may have been the shooter.
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In another revelation about the case, Crumbley told guidance counselors the disturbing drawings his teacher found were for a video game he was designing, school officials have said.
A teacher discovered a note on his desk with a drawing of a handgun pointing at the words, “The thoughts won’t stop, help me,” prosecutors said.
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