Students from Michigan's Oxford High School return to class after November shooting that killed four

Posted Jan. 26, 2022

By Ethan Donahue

Staff Editor

Oxford High School students have returned to class following the mass shooting at their Oxford Township, Michigan school on Nov. 30, 2021, resulting in approximately 30 shots fired, four student deaths, and seven people, including a teacher, injured.

This was the deadliest school shooting on a K-12 campus since May 2018. The four students who died were Madisyn Baldwin, 17; Tate Myre, 16; Hana St. Juliana, 14; and Justin Shilling, 17. The shooter, 15-year-old Ethan Crumberly, is facing a slew of charges as an adult, including first-degree murder, terrorism, and other charges. In court on Dec. 1, 2021 his lawyer, Scott Kozak, asked to enter a not-guilty plea during the arraignment, saying, “my client is standing mute.” Crumberly’s parents, James and Jennifer Crumberly, were also each charged on Dec. 3, 2021 with involuntary manslaughter in connection with their son’s alleged actions. After failing to turn up at their arraignment, they were arrested in Detroit. The parents pleaded not guilty and are being held on bond set at $500,000 each. There has been no change to their pleas. They continue to plead not guilty to all charges.

James Crumberly bought the gun with his son on Nov. 26, 2021 that he used in the shooting, according to Karen McDonald, the Oakland County prosecutor leading the case. Crumberly then posted a photo with his handgun on Instagram. Jennifer Crumberly also posted about the gun saying, “mom and son day testing out his new Christmas present.” Crumberly and his mother went to a shooting range over the weekend leading up to the shooting.

Leading up to that weekend there were many red flags noticed by teachers and students. A teacher noticed Crumberly searching for information on guns and ammunition. This was reported to his parents on Nov. 29, 2021. Jennifer later texted Crumberly saying, “LOL I’m not mad at you. You have to learn not to get caught.” Two videos found on Crumbley’s phone that were recorded that night included him talking about shooting and killing other students.

Another teacher found a drawing on Crumberly’s desk that depicted a shooting. The illustration showed a semi-automatic handgun pointing at the words “the thoughts won’t stop help me,” and included a drawing of a bullet. Between the gun and bullet, there is a figure drawn who appeared to have been shot twice and was bleeding. Below the figure was drawn a laughing emoji. The drawing led school officials to meet with Crumberly and his parents on Nov. 30, 2021. His parents were instructed to provide counseling for their son within 48-hours. They didn’t want to take their son out of school, so Crumberly was allowed to return to class. He had the gun in his backpack during this meeting, but his bag wasn’t searched.

After this meeting security footage shows Crumberly’s movements. Just before 12:51 pm, he enters a bathroom with his backpack and exits without it, but with the gun in hand a couple of minutes later. Crumberly then began to walk through hallways aiming and firing at students. As students fled, Crumberly began shooting inside classrooms at students who hadn’t escaped. This lasted for another four or five minutes before Crumberly entered another bathroom in which he surrendered peacefully to police.

Within the estimated six minutes that the shooting lasted, the 911 call center had over 100 calls from students and teachers. Police were heading to the school by 12:52 p.m. By 1:15 p.m., news broke about the shooting; at 1:22 p.m. Jennifer Crumberly texted her son, “Ethan don’t do it,” according prosecutors, and at 1:37 p.m. James Crumberly called 911 to report a missing gun and to report that his son may be the shooter.

Oxford is ready to “reclaim” the high school, according to a video announcement from Principal Steve Wolf.

“I am so proud to say that we are reopening our high school this Monday, January 24, and we are reclaiming our high school back,” Wolf said in the video. “We know it’s going to be really difficult for our students and our staff to come back, because we’re still grieving. But throughout the last several weeks, we’ve been reminded again and again of one important fact: Our community is strong, and when we stick together, we are incredibly strong.”