Ethan Crumbley and the 2021 Oxford High School Shooting
Background
Ethan Robert Crumbley was a 15-year-old sophomore at Oxford High School when he carried out a planned mass shooting at the school on November 30, 2021. Oxford High School is located in Oxford Township, Oakland County, Michigan, approximately 40 miles north of Detroit. Crumbley killed four students and wounded six other students and one teacher before surrendering to law-enforcement officers.
The shooting was not an impulsive act. Investigators discovered journal entries, online searches, recorded videos and other evidence showing that Crumbley had planned the attack in advance. Prosecutors later described his actions as deliberate and calculated. He researched school shootings, studied how police might respond and recorded a video on the night before the attack in which he discussed his intention to kill students at Oxford High School.
Purchase of the Handgun
On November 26, 2021, four days before the shooting, Crumbley's father, James Crumbley, purchased a 9mm SIG Sauer SP 2022 semiautomatic handgun from a firearms dealer in Oxford. Ethan accompanied his father to the store and later posted a photograph of the weapon on social media, referring to it as his new gun. Although the firearm was legally purchased by his father, evidence presented in court indicated that it was intended for Ethan to use.
On November 27, Ethan and his mother, Jennifer Crumbley, went to a shooting range and practiced firing the handgun. Jennifer described the trip on social media as a mother-and-son outing involving Ethan's new Christmas present. The weapon was later kept at the family's home. Ethan stated during his guilty-plea hearing that the handgun was not locked when he obtained it on the morning of the attack.
Warning Signs at School
Oxford High School employees encountered two significant warning signs shortly before the shooting. On November 29, 2021, a teacher saw Crumbley using his cellphone to search the internet for ammunition. School officials contacted Jennifer Crumbley about the incident. She subsequently sent her son a text message telling him that she was not angry but that he needed to learn not to get caught.
On the morning of November 30, a teacher discovered a disturbing drawing on Crumbley's mathematics assignment. The drawing included a handgun, a person who appeared to have been shot and statements expressing violent and desperate thoughts. School counselors removed Crumbley from class and summoned his parents to the school.
James and Jennifer Crumbley met with school personnel at approximately 10:00 a.m. Counselors recommended that they obtain professional mental-health treatment for Ethan within 48 hours. His parents did not remove him from school. School employees also did not search his backpack or ask whether he had access to the handgun purchased four days earlier. Crumbley returned to class while carrying the weapon and ammunition in his backpack.
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