Police say that a suspect in the shooting death of a Michigan parent was arrested in Detroit.



The parents of a Michigan teenager who the police say fatally shot four classmates in the halls of Oxford High School in suburban Detroit were arrested early Saturday after being the subject of an intense manhunt.

The teenager’s parents, James and Jennifer Crumbley, were taken into custody in a commercial building in Detroit after the police received a tip that led them to the location, officials said. Arriving officers spotted their vehicle and moved in to arrest them. It came a day after they were charged with involuntary manslaughter in the deaths, failed to show up for their arraignment and apparently fled town.

“We have in fact taken them into custody without incident,” James E. White, Detroit’s police chief, said at an early-morning news conference. “They appeared to be hiding in the building,” he said, adding, “We got a tip that they were there.”

“They did not resist” when officers moved in to arrest them, he said, describing the couple as “distressed.”

The couple were charged in the students’ deaths after officials said their son, Ethan Crumbley, 15, carried out the shootings on Tuesday using a handgun his parents had bought for him.

On Friday, Karen D. McDonald, the Oakland County prosecutor, said the Crumbleys were culpable in the year’s deadliest school shooting because they had allowed their son access to a handgun while ignoring glaring warnings that he was on the brink of violence.

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Parents of Suspect in Michigan School Shooting Are Charged

Karen D. McDonald, the prosecutor in Oakland County, said the parents of the 15-year-old accused of fatally shooting four students at Oxford High School were charged with involuntary manslaughter.

“While the shooter was the one who entered the high school and pulled the trigger, there are other individuals who contributed to the events on Nov. 30, and it’s my intention to hold them accountable as well. It’s imperative we prevent this from happening again. No other parent or community should have to live through this nightmare. I have shared previously, and I will reiterate today that gun ownership is a right. And with that right comes great responsibility. Based on the information and evidence I have received today, I am announcing charges against the shooter’s parents, Jennifer and James Crumbley. The charges are as follows: James Crumbley is charged with four counts of involuntary manslaughter. Jennifer Crumbley is also charged with four counts of involuntary manslaughter. I want to be really clear that these charges are intended to hold the individuals who contributed to this tragedy accountable, and also send a message that gun owners have a responsibility — when they fail to uphold that responsibility, there are serious and criminal consequences.” Reporter: “It’s extremely rare for parents to be charged in school shootings. Are you trying to set a new standard or is the evidence simply overwhelming in this case?” “I have tremendous compassion and empathy for parents who have children who are struggling and at risk for whatever reason, and I am by no means saying that an active shooter situation should always result in a criminal prosecution against parents. But the facts of this case are so egregious.”


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Karen D. McDonald, the prosecutor in Oakland County, said the parents of the 15-year-old accused of fatally shooting four students at Oxford High School were charged with involuntary manslaughter.CreditCredit...Nick Hagen for The New York Times

Law enforcement officials said that the parents had gone missing on Friday afternoon, prompting a manhunt that involved the county’s fugitive-apprehension team, F.B.I. agents and United States Marshals. It drew in the Detroit police when officials received the tip that led them to the area where Saturday’s arrest took place, just north of the Detroit River.

“They cannot run from their part in this tragedy,” Sheriff Michael Bouchard of Oakland County said in a statement on Friday, before the couple were apprehended.

The deadly gunfire in Oxford, in Oakland County — about 30 miles north of Detroit — added to a growing list of shootings this year on school grounds in the United States after a lull during the early months of the coronavirus pandemic, when many schools held classes remotely.

In announcing the charges against the parents, Ms. McDonald gave a detailed accounting of Ethan Crumbley’s alleged actions leading up to the shooting.

On the morning of Nov. 30, the day of the shooting, she said, the suspect’s parents were urgently called into the 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 and a laughing emoji, and the words, “Blood everywhere,” and, “The thoughts won’t stop. Help me.”

The day before the shooting, a teacher had seen the suspect searching online for ammunition for the gun in class, which led to a meeting with school officials, the prosecutor said. After being informed by the school about their son’s behavior, Ms. McDonald said, Mrs. Crumbley texted to her son: “LOL, I’m not mad at you. You have to learn not to get caught.”

The shooting took the lives of Hana St. Juliana, 14; Madisyn Baldwin, 17; and Tate Myre, 16, who died in a sheriff’s squad car while on the way to a hospital. A fourth student, Justin Shilling, 17, died on Wednesday morning at McLaren Oakland Hospital in Pontiac, Mich.

By: Gerry Mullany
Title: Parents of Michigan Shooting Suspect Arrested in Detroit, Police Say
Sourced From: www.nytimes.com/2021/12/04/us/michigan-shooting-parents-arrested.html
Published Date: Sat, 04 Dec 2021 16:06:38 +0000