DETROIT (Michigan), Dec 4: The parents of the student, Ethan Crumbley, who
came to his Oxford High School in a Detroit suburb with a gun and fired all
around indiscriminately last Tuesday killing four students, were arrested after
a manhunt from a building in Detroit city early Saturday.
James and Jennifer Crumbley, who were on the run, were found on the first floor
of an industrial building after the police found their car parked nearby. They
were charged with involuntary manslaughter for the shooting by their 15-year-old
son killing four students and wounding seven others at the school. The Crumbleys
were transferred to Oakland County Jail, where their son is also being detained.
A reward of $10,000 was announced for any leads for their arrest.
It was on November 30, Ethan opened fire on students and staff at the Oxford
High School in the Detroit exurb of Oxford Township, Michigan, killing four
students and injuring seven others, including a teacher. The students who were
killed were Madisyn Baldwin (17), Tate Myre (16), Hana St. Juliana (14) and
Justin Shilling (17).
According to Karen McDonald, the prosecutor who is leading the case, quoted
by CNN, James Crumbley had bought the gun on November 26, four days before the
shooting took place, from a store accompanied by his son. Ethan later posted
a picture on Instagram and captioned it, "Just got my new beauty today. SIG
SAUER 9mm" with a heart-eyes emoji. And the father too posted on social media,
"his new Christmas present." His mother also took him to a shooting range last
weekend after buying the gun for practice, and told him the day before the shooting, "You have to learn (how) not to get caught!"
The day before the shooting a teacher saw Ethan searching ammunition on his
phone and reported it to school officials and the parents were also informed.
The mother in turn told her son, "You have to learn not to get caught."
On the day of shooting, Ethan had a drawing that showed a semiautomatic handgun
pointing at the words, "The thoughts won't stop. Help me," "Blood Everywhere,"
"My life is useless" and "The world is dead," a teacher found. Below the drawing
is a drawing of a laughing emoji.
The parents were called to the school after finding these warning signs, but
they refused to take their son out of the school. Later, Ethan began shooting
at students.
The shooting was the deadliest at a school campus since 2018 and the 32nd such
attack since August 1.
**On an average, American civilians buy 25 million firearms in a year, much
more than the combined stockpile of all the armed forces across the world. The origin of the gun culture is associated with a revolutionary past, and the Second Amendment to the Constitution further guarantees unbridled freedom for individuals to possess firearms.
