Most school shooters obtain their firearms from home, which was true in the case of 15-year-old Ethan Crumbley, the suspect in the mass shooting at Michigan’s Oxford High School. This time, though, the parents are being held accountable. According to The Daily Beast, Ethan Crumbley’s parents have each been charged with four counts of involuntary manslaughter connected to the Nov. 30 massacre that left four teens dead and seven people injured, including a teacher. The gun Ethan used, a 9mm Sig Sauer, was purchased by his father just four days before the attack. In total, Ethan Crumbley faces 24 different counts as an adult.
As the outlet points out, the decision to pursue criminal charges against James and Jennifer Crumbley is a rarity in the U.S. legal system, which seldom holds parents of school shooters accountable for their child’s actions.
“Any individual that had the opportunity to stop this tragedy should have done so. The question is what did they know, and when did they know it,” Oakland County Prosecutor Karen McDonald said on Friday.
This looks pretty bad.
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“McDonald said that on Nov. 21, a teacher at Oxford High observed Ethan searching for ammunition on his cell phone during class, and reported it to school officials,” the Beast reports. “Administrators left a voicemail for Jennifer Crumbley and followed up with an email, but received no response. Jennifer then texted Ethan, saying, “lol I’m not mad at you. You have to learn not to get caught,” McDonald said.”
‘On the morning of the shooting, Ethan’s teacher was “alarmed” by a drawing he made of a handgun, with the text: “The thoughts won’t stop. Help me.” He had also had drawn a bullet with the words: “Blood everywhere,” ‘the report continues.
“When alerts went out about a possible active shooter at Oxford High School, Jennifer texted to her son, “Ethan, don’t do it,” McDonald said,” the outlet reports.
“About 15 minutes later, James Crumbley called 911 to report that his gun was missing from his house and “that his son could be the shooter,” she added,” the Beast adds.
Watch:
Oakland Co, MI prosecutor Karen McDonald explains why she charged the parents in the recent school shooting: “I am by no means saying than an active shooter situation should always result in criminal prosecutions against parents, but the facts of this case are so egregious.” pic.twitter.com/EiTIfydYWH
— Ron Filipkowski (@RonFilipkowski) December 3, 2021
Jennifer Crumbley, 43, the suspect’s mother, wrote an open letter to then-president-elect Donald Trump on her blog in November of 2016, just days after the election.
As we reported, in her open letter to Trump, she thanked the then-president-elect “for “my right to bear arms,” even though the former reality show star had nothing to do with the Second Amendment being ratified in 1791.
She wrote to Trump, “I knew in the deepest of my gut that I could not let this woman [Hillary Clinton] have control over my son’s future.”
“As a female and a Realtor, thank you for allowing my right to bear arms,” she continued. “Allowing me to be protected if I show a home to someone with bad intentions. Thank you for respecting that Amendment.”
She ended her open letter with, “Yours Truly,” and signed it: “A hard working Middle Class Law Abiding Citizen who is sick of getting fucked in the ass and would rather be grabbed by the pussy.”
Featured image via screen capture
