The parents of Ethan Crumbley, the student accused of killing four of his fellow students at Oxford High School in Michigan are reported to be missing after being charged with four counts of involuntary manslaughter. Jennifer and James Crumbley were reported to have bought their son the gun that was used in the murders. Prosecutor Karen McDonald said that the Crumbleys ignored signs that their son was on the brink of violence.
“I am in no way saying that an active shooter situation should always result in a criminal prosecution against parents, but the facts of this case are so egregious,” McDonald said.
“I’m angry as a mother, I’m angry as a prosecutor, I’m angry as a person that lives in this county, I’m angry,” she continued. “There were a lot of things that could have been so simple to prevent.”
On the morning of the Nov. 30 shooting, Crumbley’s parents were urgently called to Oxford High School after one of his teachers found an alarming note he had drawn, scrawled with images of a gun, a person who had been shot, a laughing emoji, and the words, “Blood everywhere,” and, “The thoughts won’t stop. Help me.”
School officials told the Crumbleys that they needed to seek therapy for their son. McDonald said that the parents declined to remove Ethan from school that day. McDonald also added that they did not check their son’s backpack for a gun even knowing they had just bought him one. There is no explanation offered for why the school officials didn’t search his bag.
“The notion that a parent could read those words and also know their son had access to a deadly weapon, that they gave him, is unconscionable, and I think it’s criminal. It is criminal,” McDonald said.
The shooter left that meeting and began his murder spree a few hours later. His mother texted him after news of the shooting spread saying, “Ethan, don’t do it.” Shortly after that, James Crumbley called 911 to report that the gun was missing.
According to the New York Times, Ethan Crumbley has been charged with terrorism and first-degree murder in the deaths of Tate Myre, 16; Madisyn Baldwin, 17; Justin Shilling, 17; and Hana St. Juliana, 14.
While the prosecutor wants to blame the parents, and maybe rightly so, why isn’t the school also negligent for not searching the suspect while they had him in the office? Perhaps it should not have also been the parents’ decision whether or not Ethan was sent home from school that day.
Matters became even more complicated with the Crumbleys did not show up to turn themselves in when ordered to.
Law-enforcement officials said that the parents had gone missing on Friday afternoon and that the county’s fugitive-apprehension team, F.B.I. agents and United States Marshals were looking for the couple. “They cannot run from their part in this tragedy,” Sheriff Michael Bouchard of Oakland County said in a statement.
Lawyers for the parents said they had not fled from the order to turn themselves in but left town for their own safety. The lawyers have told authorities that the Crumbleys are returning to the area and will be present at their arraignment.
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