A 15-year-old sophomore’s parents showed up for school on Tuesday morning to meet with administrators who had become worried about their son’s conduct in the classroom over the previous several weeks.
Authorities say the teenager, Ethan Crumbley, entered a school restroom with his bag and resurfaced with a weapon little over three hours after the meeting began, according to law enforcement officials. He opened fire, killing four kids and injuring seven others in the bloodiest school shooting in the United States this year.
In the wake of his arrest on terrorism and four counts of first-degree murder, among other accusations, new information regarding the suspect’s conduct and activities in the hours preceding up to the shooting spree surfaced on Wednesday.
prosecutors said they were also contemplating charging the suspect’s parents with their son’s murder as well. Mr. Crumbley, according to the investigators, carried out the shooting in a Detroit suburb using a weapon that his father had purchased just four days before.
In the midst of grief and questions about whether any warning signs had been missed, authorities released the first details of what they described as a “mountain” of digital and paper evidence demonstrating the suspect’s preparation for and desire to murder students at Oxford High School on Wednesday.
On the day of Mr. Crumbley’s video arraignment, law enforcement officials informed the court that they had found two cellphone films he had recorded on his phone the night before the shooting, in which he discussed murdering Oxford students the next day. Authorities say they also discovered a notebook in his rucksack, in which he wrote of his intention to “shoot up” the school.
Police claimed Mr. Crumbley fired more than 30 shots as panicked kids ran for safety and locked themselves behind classroom doors that were barred by desks, according to the police report. He was still in possession of 18 rounds of ammunition when he was captured, according to authorities.
A fourth student, Justin Shilling, 17, died at McLaren Oakland Hospital in Pontiac, Michigan, on Wednesday morning, according to the sheriff’s office. The death toll from the shooting has now reached four, according to authorities.
Hana St. Juliana, 14; Madisyn Baldwin, 17; and Tate Myre, 16, were the other kids slain. Tate Myre died in a sheriff’s squad vehicle on the route to a hospital with the other children.
At least two of the wounded children, whose ages varied from 14 to 17, according to authorities, were still in serious condition on Monday. A teacher, who was the sole adult injured in the attack, was released from the hospital on Tuesday.
Oakland County prosecutor Karen D. McDonald acknowledged that her decision to charge the suspect with terrorism was not typical for a mass shooting prosecution, but she stated that it reflected the wider trauma suffered by the hundreds students who fled gunshots, hid under their desks, and who will be haunted for years after the shooting.
On Wednesday, classmates, family members, and law enforcement officials gathered to grieve and honour the victims of the shooting. During the announcement of the charges against the suspect, Ms. McDonald took a moment to provide a few facts about the victims, who included athletes, a big sister, an honours student, and a joyous child.
Tate Myre played linebacker and tight end for his high school’s football team, and he had just been named to the Michigan High School Football Coaches Association’s all-region team. He died on Tuesday while being transported to a hospital by police officers in a patrol vehicle. By Wednesday, more than 67,000 signatures had been collected on an online campaign to rename the school’s stadium in his honour.
Hana St. Juliana, the youngest victim, was a freshman on the volleyball and basketball teams whose parents wanted people to remember her as one of the “happiest and most joyful kids,” according to Ms. McDonald. Hana’s parents wanted people to remember her as one of the “happiest and most joyful kids.”
It was noted by the sheriff that the district had no record of the suspect being tormented at school, and that he did not think that any particular kids were targeted in the incident. During a hearing, a court officer said that he did not have a prior record as a juvenile offender.
Ms. Times recalls assisting a handful of her students who had fallen in the midst of the chaos as they raced to an exit and into the parking lot of the school. Some kids continued to flee, according to her, while others rushed into vehicles and sped away from the scene.
She hid behind a vehicle and began ringing the phone numbers of her father, her stepmother, her brother, and a few of her closest friends, leaving notes saying how much she loved each of them. She eventually stopped. Her mother, who is employed at a local middle school, came to take her up. A plan was formed for the two of them to meet at a neighbouring Meijer grocery store, which had been designated as an official meeting location for school evacuations.
