Student Suspect Charged in Oxford High School Shooting That Left 4 Dead, 7 Injured

The 15-year-old suspect accused of killing four Oxford High School students and injuring another six students and a teacher Tuesday was charged with four counts of first-degree murder, one count of terrorism causing death, seven counts of assault with intent to murder and 12 counts of possession of a firearm in the commission of a felony, police announced Wednesday. 

Karen D. McDonald, the Oakland County prosecutor, named the suspect, high school sophomore Ethan Crumbing, publicly for the first time Wednesday and announced he was being charged as an adult.

McDonald also said she contemplated more charges being brought forth against the parents, Jennifer and James Crumbley, who had met with school officials in person Tuesday about the suspect’s behavior in the  classroom a few hours before, what authorities called, the “absolutely cold-hearted, murderous” massacre, according to the Oakland County sheriff, Michael Bouchard. 

“We had to act quickly to review the evidence that has already been gathered and issue these initial charges,” McDonald said. “Going forward from today, the process becomes more methodical. There are important facts still to be gathered, the process will take time,” 

“The investigators in my office will pour through all of those facts,” McDonald continued. “They will make sure that we have left no stone unturned to get to the answers to all of your questions, our questions, about how and why this happened.”

Authorities told a judge that investigators had possession of  two videos from the suspects cell phone, where they discussed killing students the following day at the high school the night before the shooting, during a video arraignment held on Wednesday afternoon. They also recovered a journal where the suspect elaborated on his desire to shoot the school up.

The suspect was charged hours after a fourth student, Justin Shilling, 17, died at McLaren Oakland Hospital in Pontiac, Mich., at around 10:45 a.m., police say. 

Hana St. Juliana, 14; Madisyn Baldwin, 17; and Tate Myre, 16, were the other victims who died riding to the hospital in a sheriff’s squad car while on the way to a hospital. Seven other people were injured.

In total, 11 people were shot during the Tuesday shooting at Oxford High, 10 students and one teacher. Three students were in critical condition, one in serious condition as of Tuesday. The 47-year-old teacher was discharged from the hospital. 

The suspect came out of the bathroom and started firing his 9-millimeter Sig Sauer pistol, purchased by his father on Nov. 26, four days before Tuesday’s shooting, at students in the hallway, according to authorities. After watching video footage of the incident, the targets “appeared random,” according to Sheriff Bouchard. He also says the firearm was still loaded with 15-round magazines when the suspect was arrested.

Students had to go as far as barricading the classroom door and armed themselves with scissors, according to Aiden Page, a senior who was in AP statistics when he heard two gunshots, according to CNN.

The teacher ran and locked the door and the students helped build a barricade of desks, shoving them against the door, just as they practiced in the active shooting drills, Page said.

“We grabbed calculators, we grabbed scissors just in case the shooter got in and we had to attack them,” Page said. 

Oxford High freshman, Mark Kluska, was in sign language class as he watched his teacher shut the door, fixing it with the metal doorstop, after hearing the announcement of a lockdown over the loudspeaker, according to CNN.

“I started realizing it was real when I began to hear yelling,” Kluska said.

The staff and students of Oxford High School did exactly what they were supposed to do in reacting to the school shooting, the undersheriff, Michael McCabe said at an afternoon press conference.

“Everybody remained in place,” McCabe said. “They barricaded themselves.”

The suspect appeared at his Wednesday afternoon arraignment via video as his parents watched along on the video conference as his lawyer, on his behalf, pleaded not guilty.

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan spoke on the tragedy and said she was “devastated for the students, teachers, staff, and families” of Oxford High, calling gun violence a “public health crisis.”

 No one should be afraid to go to school, work, a house of worship, or even their own home,” Gov. Whitmer said. “This is a time for us to come together and help children feel safe at school…I think this is every parent’s worst nightmare.”