Michigan school shooting: Why were the suspect’s parents charged? | Arms Violence News

Accused by the parents of the 15-year-old killing four students Last week at a high school in southeast Michigan he could have “stopped” a mass shooting, but decided not to, authorities said.

That’s what prompted the local prosecutor to file allegations of involuntary manslaughter Against James and Jennifer Crumbley, observers say this is one of the first times that the parents of an assailant accused in the United States have been charged with criminal charges.

Crumbley, who pleaded not guilty, is expected to make a stern defense, but analysts say the charges against them send as strong a message as they do in a country struggling to stop. deadly gun violence in schools.

“Part of the reason for prosecuting anyone is twofold [pronged], to punish what people have done, but also to scare others away, ”said Al Jazeera Jamil Khuja, a former Detroit criminal defense attorney and assistant prosecutor.

“So the message is, ‘Hey, if you have guns, you have to block them and make sure your kids don’t have access without knowing.'”

Schedule of events

Authorities say Ethan Crumbley was “methodically” shot dead in North Detroit at Oxford High School on November 30, killing four people and wounding seven others in a planned attack. He faces numerous charges, including terrorism and first-degree murder.

While he is studying the possibility of spending his entire life in prison, his parents could spend up to 15 years in prison if convicted of involuntary manslaughter.

Khuja said it is ultimately up to the prosecuting attorney — also known as a district attorney in some parts of the U.S. — to file criminal charges, which is usually decided based on whether the available evidence can confirm the conviction.

Prosecutors say James Crumbley bought the gun from his son on Nov. 26 and took his mother to a shooting range a day later. Jennifer Crumbley also discarded her son on the phone looking for ammunition on the phone before the school day shooting, authorities said. “LOL, I’m not angry with you. You have to learn not to catch them, ”he said in a text message, according to prosecutors.

On the day of the shooting, Crumbley’s parents called the school when a teacher found a note on the teen’s desk that looked like a person shot, a gun, a bullet and the words “blood everywhere” and “help me.” . Parents were told to seek counseling from Ethan, but they left after the meeting because the teen had been allowed to return to the classroom.

“I think what this prosecutor has done is to examine the evidence: some text messages and some social media posts, irresponsible attitude. [the parents] they had guns with their child and he said, ‘they have to be held accountable,’ ”Khuja said.

“Account Must Be”

In Michigan, each county selects its own attorney. Oakland County Attorney Karen McDonald was a former judge selected Oakland County in 2020 as a Democrat.

Announcing allegations against Crumbley last week, McDonald said the couple’s behavior was not only “nonsensical” but also “criminal.”

He told reporters that the decision to file a complaint was intended to be a deterrent to others. “These accusations are intended to hold accountable the people who contributed to this tragedy and also send a message that gun owners are responsible,” he said.

However, Crumbley’s lawyers said in their first appearance last week that the gun used by Ethan Crumbley in the shooting was “actually blocked”, arguing that “much more is happening” than what the prosecution told the court.

However, the move to file a complaint against the couple was welcomed by gun control advocates, including the Michigan chapters on Moms Demand Action and Students Demand Action, which belong to the Everytown for Gun Safety Protection Network.

“When gun owners fail to take responsibility for the safe storage of firearms and tragedy strikes, there must be responsibility,” Shannon Watts, founder of Moms Demand Action, said in a statement. “We must both inform gun owners of their duty and responsibility to keep their weapons safe, and to accept and enforce the laws that give gun owners responsibility when they fail to do so.”

Students embrace each other outside of Oxford High School in Michigan on December 1st [File: Paul Sancya/AP Photo]

Access to weapons

According to a 2019 report, most U.S. school shooters get their weapons from home (PDF) The U.S. National Secret Service Threat Assessment Center investigated incidents of school violence directed between 2008 and 2017. According to the report, “many firearms were unsecured.”

There were 229 gun-related incidents, including nine active shooters in U.S. schools in 2021, according to the Naval Graduate School. Center Homeland Defense and Security. Violence has killed 39 people on school property.

Rebeccah Sokol, an assistant professor at Wayne State University School in Detroit, Detainee, who studies exposure to youth misfortune, said it seems stricter laws to prevent child access to prevent youth gun injuries and deaths.

But gun laws vary by state, and Michigan does not have a gun storage law, which means gun owners must “keep unloaded and locked firearms unattended,” according to the Giffords Law Center, an arms control advocacy group.

“Secure storage laws encourage responsible gun ownership practices when gun owners are required to keep firearms unloaded and locked when they are not cared for,” the center says. tab to protect that legislation. “These laws are intended to help prevent unauthorized users, including children, from entering and using firearms, which could reduce the tragedies resulting from suicide, unintentional spills, and theft of weapons.”

Prosecutor McDonald’s has lamented Michigan’s “extremely inadequate” regulations, and the Oxford High School shooting has called for stricter gun laws in the state and across the country.

“We know that acquiring a firearm is one of the biggest risk factors for injuring young people’s firearms,” Sokol told Al Jazeera. “And we know that most of these gun-related injuries among teens occur with a firearm that enters a home or a family or friend.”

Sokol did not specifically address Crumbley’s case, but said that restricting access to juvenile firearms should be included in efforts to end gun violence.

“How to see [the Oxford shooting] It’s affecting the community, it’s affecting the heart, it’s causing concern, it’s disrupting everyone’s lives, people are scared, “Sokol said.” , to prevent this kind of tragedy from happening in the future “.