Suspect
The suspect has been identified as 15-year-old Eric Crumbley.
Media reports indicated that school officials had been concerned about Crumbley's behavior the day before the shooting when a teacher observed Crumbley searching for ammunition on his cellphone during class.
The morning of the shooting, a second teacher found a note on Crumbley’s desk that read, "The thoughts won't stop. Help me.” The note also included a drawing of a bullet and the words "Blood everywhere,” along with a person who appeared to have been shot and bleeding, and the words, "my life is useless" and "the world is dead.” School officials then met with Crumbley, and his parents around 10am, approximately 2 hours before the shooting, to discuss their concerns and review the note. The Crumbleys were instructed to make arrangements to have their son attend a counseling session within 24 hours. There was no mention of whether or not Crumbley had the gun or if it was in his backpack during the meeting. Crumbley’s parents resisted the idea of taking their son home that day. Instead, the teen returned to class, and the shooting subsequently occurred.
In a written statement released Saturday, Oxford Community Schools Superintendent Tim Throne, reported that in the initial meeting with a counselor and a staff member, Crumbley claimed shooting sports were a hobby for his family. During the second meeting with guidance counselors, Crumbley claimed the drawings were part of a video game design and stated he wanted to pursue a career in that field. According to guidance counselors, Crumbley was calm and worked on homework while staff tried to reach his parents, and they traveled to the school. Throne also stated the parents did not inform the counselors that they had recently purchased a gun. Throne further stated “When the parents were asked to take their son home for the day, they flatly refused and left without their son."
Law enforcement officials have obtained two videos from Crumbley’s phone made the night before in which he talked about shooting and killing students at the high school. A journal located inside Crumbley’s backpack revealed his desire to use a firearm to kill classmates, which officials also obtained. Authorities stated that an Instagram account possibly belonging to Crumbley displayed an image of the suspected firearm used during the shooting. Social media posts also indicated that Crumbly accompanied his father for the gun purchase on November 26, 2021, and then posted photos of the firearm, saying, "Just got my new beauty today.” Social media posts from Crumbly's mother indicate that the gun may have been purchased as a gift for her son.
On December 1, 2021, Crumbley (who was charged as an adult) pleaded not guilty to one count of terrorism causing death, four counts of first-degree murder, seven counts of assault with intent to murder, and 12 counts of possessing a firearm in the commission of a crime.
Parents Charged
James, and Jennifer Crumbley, were each charged with four counts of involuntary manslaughter on Friday, December 3, 2021.
The Crumbley’s were expected to be arraigned at 4 p.m. the same day but stopped communicating with their attorney and never appeared for their scheduled arraignment. On the morning of the arraignment, the couple took out $4,000.00 from an ATM not far from the courthouse where they were supposed to appear that afternoon. According to Oakland County Undersheriff Michael McCabe, later that same night, a Detroit business owner "spotted a car tied to the Crumbleys in his parking lot" McCabe also stated that a woman seen near the vehicle ran away when the business owner called 911. The couple was later located and arrested by Detroit police.
