Michigan school shooting: Parents of 15-year-old suspect implicated | Arms Violence News

Accused of the teenager’s parents killing four students A U.S. state institute in Michigan has been charged with manslaughter this week after officials accused the couple of allowing their son to use a firearm.

Jennifer and James Crumbley were charged with four counts of manslaughter on Friday.

Under Michigan law, an involuntary manslaughter charge can be filed if prosecutors believe that someone helped them in a situation where they suffered significant damage or death. If convicted, they could face up to 15 years in prison.

“These accusations are intended to hold accountable the people who contributed to this tragedy and also send a message that gun owners have a responsibility,” Oakland County prosecutor Karen McDonald told reporters Friday.

“When they fail to fulfill that responsibility, there are serious and criminal consequences.”

Ethan Crumbley, 15, is facing a number of charges, including terrorism and murder, after authorities said Tuesday he was shot dead at an institute in Oxford, north of Detroit. four were killed and seven others were injured.

Authorities ordered the arrest of the fugitive’s parents, who were scheduled to appear in court on Friday evening but remained at large. His parents’ lawyers told him Detroit News The newspaper reported that the couple “is not fleeing law enforcement” and is being prosecuted.

Prosecutors say the shooter planned the attack, according to evidence from his cell phone and social media accounts.

The father of the suspected gun used in the attack bought it on November 26, just days before the attack, investigators also said this week. James Crumbley took Ethan with him when he bought the gun with him, the prosecutor said.

At a news conference Friday, McDonald said he found a note on the day of the shooting that a teacher at Ethan Crumbley’s desk had a drawing of a gun and the words “blood everywhere” and “thoughts won’t stop, help.” .

The school then held a meeting with parents, telling them to join the counseling within 48 hours, McDonald said. But the 15-year-old high school student returned to finish school day.

“James and Jennifer Crumbley didn’t ask their son if he had his gun with him or where the gun was, and they didn’t examine his backpack to see the presence of the gun he had with him,” McDonald told reporters.

When he heard of a shooting at school, James Crumbley immediately went home in search of the gun, McDonald also said he was missing. Crumbley called authorities to say he suspected his son might be a shooter.

The shooting took place at Oxford High School in Michigan on Tuesday [Paul Sancya/AP Photo]

The deadly attack has caused blows across Michigan, as well as calls for tougher gun control laws in the United States.

“It’s the only American issue we need to address,” Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer said earlier this week, saying Tuesday’s shooting was “the worst nightmare of all parents.”

Deadly gun violence has increased in the United States over the past two years.

In 2020 there were 611 mass shootings in the country Archive of Armed Violence. The research team defines mass shooting as any incident in which four or more people are shot or killed without being a shooter.

The Michigan chapters of Moms Demand Action and Students Demand Action, the advocacy group for Everytown for Gun Safety, have called for stricter action following the Oxford violence.

“No one should live what my cousin did while he was in school today,” said Aria Segura, a Student Demand Action volunteer whose cousin goes to Oxford High School. statement.

“We shouldn’t live in a world of gun violence in our schools or in our communities, but for too many of us that is our reality. We need real action to protect all students and communities from gun violence, ”Segura said.

U.S. Democratic Sen. Chris Murphy unanimously called for consensus on Thursday to pass a bill passed by the House of Representatives that will require universal background checks on arms sales. But he did not pass as a result of the Republican opposition.

“The damage that is happening in this country is serious; it is real; it is wide. This is an epidemic of gun violence in the United States and elsewhere, “Murphy said.