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.
The Oxford High School Shooting
At approximately 12:51 p.m. on November 30, 2021, Crumbley entered a school bathroom with his backpack. About a minute later, he emerged carrying the SIG Sauer handgun. Students were moving through the hallways between classes when he began firing.
Crumbley walked through the school corridors and fired at students in the hallways and through classroom doors. Teachers and students locked doors, barricaded rooms and hid after an active-shooter warning was announced. The attack lasted only several minutes, but Crumbley fired more than 30 rounds and attempted to enter or shoot into occupied classrooms.
Deputies and school resource officers rapidly moved toward the sound of gunfire. Crumbley eventually placed the handgun on the floor and surrendered without being shot. Officers took him into custody at approximately 12:55 p.m. He still possessed additional ammunition when he was arrested.
Students Killed
- Hana St. Juliana, 14 – Hana was a freshman at Oxford High School. She was killed during the shooting on November 30, 2021, inside Oxford High School in Oxford Township, Michigan. She was remembered as a talented athlete who participated in volleyball and basketball.
- Tate Myre, 16 – Tate was a junior, football player and wrestler at Oxford High School. Witnesses reported that he moved toward Crumbley in an attempt to stop or disarm him. Tate was critically wounded and died while being transported from the school in a police vehicle on November 30, 2021.
- Madisyn Baldwin, 17 – Madisyn was a senior at Oxford High School. She was killed inside the school on November 30, 2021. She was remembered by relatives and classmates as an artistic student who had already received several college acceptance offers.
- Justin Shilling, 17 – Justin was a senior and a member of the school’s bowling and golf teams. He was critically wounded at Oxford High School on November 30, 2021, and was transported to a hospital. He died from his injuries on December 1, 2021.
Wounded Victims
Six students and one teacher survived gunshot wounds or related injuries. Some of the students suffered life-threatening injuries and required extensive hospitalization and rehabilitation. The wounded teacher was treated for a grazing wound to the shoulder and released. The final hospitalized survivor was discharged in January 2022.
The attack also caused widespread psychological injuries among students, teachers, emergency personnel and families. Hundreds of students had been inside the building, and many witnessed the shooting, heard the gunfire or remained barricaded in classrooms while waiting for officers to secure the school.
Investigation and Criminal Charges
Investigators searched the Crumbley residence and recovered electronic devices, firearms and Ethan’s journal. The journal contained writings about his desire to commit a school shooting. His cellphone contained videos recorded before the attack in which he discussed his plan to kill students.
On December 1, 2021, Oakland County Prosecutor Karen McDonald announced that Crumbley would be prosecuted as an adult. He was charged with 24 criminal offenses, including one count of terrorism causing death, four counts of first-degree premeditated murder, seven counts of assault with intent to murder and 12 counts of possessing a firearm during the commission of a felony.
The terrorism charge was based on the allegation that Crumbley intended to intimidate or coerce the Oxford High School community through an act of violence. Prosecutors emphasized that the consequences extended beyond those who were shot because the entire school community had been terrorized.
Guilty Plea
Crumbley initially entered not-guilty pleas and announced an intention to pursue an insanity defense. He later abandoned that defense. On October 24, 2022, he pleaded guilty to all 24 charges in Oakland County Circuit Court.
During the plea hearing, Crumbley admitted that he brought the handgun and ammunition to Oxford High School, removed the weapon from his backpack and intentionally shot students. He admitted that he intended to kill his victims and acknowledged that he had planned the shooting in advance.
Life-Without-Parole Hearing
Because Crumbley was 15 when he committed the murders, he could not automatically receive life imprisonment without parole. The court was required to conduct a special hearing examining his age, background, mental health, degree of planning and possible capacity for rehabilitation.
After hearing testimony during 2023, Oakland County Circuit Judge Kwamé Rowe ruled on September 29, 2023, that Crumbley was eligible for a life-without-parole sentence. The judge found that the attack was carefully planned rather than being the product of temporary adolescent impulsiveness. Evidence showed that Crumbley had researched police response times, studied the school’s layout and anticipated being imprisoned after the attack.
Sentencing
On December 8, 2023, survivors and relatives of the murdered students addressed the court. They described the permanent emotional, physical and psychological consequences of the shooting. Several survivors spoke about living with gunshot injuries, fear and memories of classmates being killed.
Judge Rowe sentenced Ethan Crumbley to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole for the murders and terrorism offense. Additional sentences were imposed for the assault and firearm convictions. The sentence means that Crumbley is expected to remain incarcerated for the rest of his life unless the convictions or sentence are changed through a future court proceeding.
Cases Against His Parents
James and Jennifer Crumbley were each charged with four counts of involuntary manslaughter. Prosecutors alleged that they purchased the handgun for their son, failed to secure it, ignored serious warning signs and did not disclose the existence of the weapon during the school meeting on the morning of the shooting.
Jennifer Crumbley was convicted on February 6, 2024. James Crumbley was convicted on March 14, 2024. On April 9, 2024, each parent was sentenced to 10 to 15 years in prison. Their prosecutions became nationally significant because they represented rare cases in which the parents of a juvenile school shooter were held criminally responsible for actions that prosecutors argued contributed to the attack.
Impact on Oxford
The November 30, 2021, shooting devastated Oxford Township and led to memorials, vigils and extensive support campaigns for the victims and their families. Oxford High School remained closed for weeks and reopened in January 2022 under increased security.
The attack also generated lawsuits, investigations and national debates concerning firearm storage, parental responsibility, student mental health and school threat-assessment procedures. The victims’ families repeatedly emphasized that the four students should be remembered for their lives and accomplishments rather than only as casualties of a school shooting.
Ethan Crumbley’s actions permanently altered the lives of the students, employees and families associated with Oxford High School. His advance planning, the numerous warning signs before the attack and the missed opportunities for intervention became central issues in the criminal cases that followed. The murders of Hana St. Juliana, Tate Myre, Madisyn Baldwin and Justin Shilling remain the defining losses of the Oxford High School tragedy.
