James Crumbley trial told ‘three people were responsible’ for Michigan school shooting
His wife and son were both convicted — now a Michigan jury will determine whether James Crumbley sees the same fate
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James Crumbley, the father of the convicted Oxford high school shooter, is set to appear in an Oakland County, Michigan courtroom on Thursday 7 March.
Jury selection began on 5 March — just a month after Jennifer Crumbley, the defendant’s wife, was convicted on four counts of involuntary manslaughter. Mr Crumbley faces the same charges. He has pleaded not guilty.
The Crumbleys’ son fatally shot four of his classmates in November 2021. In December, the 17-year-old was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Now, Mr Crumbley faces a jury.
Throughout his wife’s trial, the defence team pointed fingers at him as being responsible for everything to do with firearms, saying she was uncomfortable dealing with guns. Last month’s trial revealed that Mr Crumbley went to a gun store with his teenage son to purchase what would become the murder weapon four days later.
Mr Crumbley’s defence will have to emphasise his dedication to gun storage, if his wife’s trial serves as precedent.
The jury foreperson said after Jennifer Crumbley’s guilty verdict was read: “The thing that really hammered it home is that she was the last adult with the gun”.
‘I love you. Active shooter’: a teacher described texts sent on the day of the shooting
Ms Darnell testified about Ethan Crumbley’s stance the moment before he shot her. The teacher recalled his feet being hip-distance apart, his shoulders were squared and he “raised that gun right up.”
She said since she knew the school was in lockdown, 911 was called. Ms Darnell said she texted her husband: “I love you. Active shooter.” But she didn’t tell anyone that she had been shot, she said.
Her daughter — who attended a different school — also texted Ms Darnell asking if she was okay, since her child heard that there was an active shooter at Oxford High School.
Then, teachers started texting in a group chat. She still didn’t tell anyone about her injury because she said she didn’t need help and didn’t want to divert resources, Ms Darnell testified.
At some point, she heard footsteps nearby, making her believe close classrooms were being evacuated. She then texted a teacher in the classroom nextdoor that she had been “hit.” She also texted that she hoped nobody else was hurt.
Finally, help arrived.
Kurt Nuss, her longtime colleague, then came to the door but she didn’t want to open the door, Ms Darnell said: “I didn’t believe it was him.”
The proseuction then showed video footage of police escorting Ms Darnell out of the school.
The teacher was then transported to a hospital. “Hallways are lined with doctors and nurses. They were prepared for a disaster,” she said, fighting through tears.
Ms McDonald then asked about what she learned about her injury. She received a chest X-ray to ensure that no debris from the bullet had travelled elsewhere in her body. “That’s the first time I cried,” she said, seemingly realizing what had happened.
“He was aiming to kill me,” she said about Ethan Crumbley. “That’s at heart level,” she said about the wound, telling the jury that her injury was just six inches from her heart.
James Crumbley in court
James Crumbley is sitting in the court on Thursday, seemingly listening intently with headphones over his head.
He took off his glasses and wiped away tears after Ms Darnell testified about her experience in the school shooting. The defence did not cross-examine the teacher.
Mr Crumbley has repeatedly fixed his tie throughout the day.
The judge told the attorneys that they are “ahead of schedule.”
Secret Service agent takes the stand
Edward Wagrowski, a Secret Service agent who previoulsy worked as a detective and computer crimes analyst for the Oakland County Sheriff’s Office, testified on Thursday.
Wagrowski’s testimony continues
Mr Wagrowski testified his memory of the day of the shooting.
He told the court that he was working on 30 November. When Mr Keast asked what he was doing at the time of the shooting, Mr Wagrowski replied, “Probably driving pretty fast.” The captain told the sheriff’s office, “all hands on deck,” he remembered, noting that he usually isn’t involved in active shooting situations, given his role.
The former detective’s voice became shaky when he talked about the events of the fateful day.
He remembered a series of ambulances and a SWAT vehicle behind him as he drove to Oxford High School -- he was the first car in the line. “I counted at least 16 vehicles screaming past me,” he said.
“That was tough,” he said, recalling when he neared the school. “They looked like zombies,” he said describing the students and how many people were dressed without coats and one kid just had one shoe in, showing how rushed they were to leave the school.
Surveillance footage
Mr Wagrowski looked over video surveillance footage to figure out where and when the shooting started and who was involved.
Oxford High School had at least 100 cameras, he said, and it was his responsibility to review the footage.
The Secret Service agent’s testimony will continue at 1.30pm, after the jury returns from lunch break.
Jennifer Crumbley’s case was a landmark — it’s unclear if her husband’s will be too
Never before had a parent been tried for their alleged involvement in a mass school shooting.
A judge for Michigan’s appellate court acknowledged the historic nature of this case in his opinion ruling that the Crumbleys should stand trial: “Our legal system does not, nor should it, criminally punish people for subpar, odd, or eccentric parenting…However, before us is the unusual case.”
The prosecution argued that Ms Crumbley could have taken “tragically small” steps that would have prevented the shooting, which the state described as “foreseeable.” Instead, the prosecutors argued, she ignored her son’s mental health struggles and made the 9mm handgun — purchased four days before the shooting — accessible.
The jury agreed.
Now, Crumbley is the first parent to have been convicted for her alleged role in a mass school shooting. Her husband, James Crumbley, could soon be the second as he is facing the same charges at his trial in March.
While the verdict in this case may be unprecedented, the events that led to this point are far from it.
School shootings are all too common across America, with more than 340 school shootings in 2023 alone, according to the K-12 School Shooting database.
Tragically, then, it’s not too surprising that firearms are the leading cause of death of children in the United States.
With gun violence a devastating, yet common part of life, it’s perhaps unsurprising that attention is turning to holding accountable people beyond those who pulled the trigger.
Read the full story...
How Jennifer Crumbley’s case could change America’s response to mass shootings
Never before has a parent been tried and convicted for their alleged involvement in a mass school shooting. The Jennifer Crumbley case could set a new precedent for holding gun owners responsible, Kelly Rissman reports
James Crumbley’s son’s journal entries could seal his fate
The 17-year-old, who last year was sentenced to life without parole, had written a series of disturbing journal entries, including one that read: “I will have to find where my dad hid my gun before I can shoot (up) the school.” A judge is expected to decide this week on whether the entry is admissible.
This line could be favourable for Mr Crumbley’s defence, as prosecutors argue that he and his wife ignored their their troubled son’s mental health and gave him easy access to a firearm in their home.
However, that piece of evidence was not permitted in Jennifer Crumbley’s trial, the Detroit Free Press reported, yet jurors were allowed to hear other entries and texts regarding Ethan requesting help from his parents for his mental health issues, which they allegedly ignored.
Throughout his wife’s trial, her defence lawyer painted James Crumbley as being in charge of guns, while she didn’t know much about them.
The trial revealed that Mr Crumbley took his then 15-year-old to purchase the gun that became a murder weapon four days later.
The storage of the gun will likely be a key point in Mr Crumbley’s case if his wife’s trial serves as precedent.
Read the full story...
James Crumbley trial fate could be depend on his son’s journal entry
‘I will have to find where my dad hid my gun before I can shoot (up) the school,’ the entry in question reads
Mr Wagrowski’s testimony continues. He said it was his job to try to secure video footage from the hundreds of security cameras at the high school.
“We knew it started in the 200 hallway,” the former detective said.
He explained that the shooter went into the bathroom, and came out in an all-black outfit, which was different from what he wore earlier in the day. When they learned that he had been in the school counsellor’s office earlier that day, they found footage of him in the office and eventually determined what he looked like, Mr Wagrowski said.
When asked how many hours he saw of the shooting, he replied, “too many.”
Mr Wagrowski choked up when he talked about the footage that captured the four students who were fatally shot. “I’ll never forget it,” he said.
He recalled watching teachers as they were “grabbing students as they ran by and just throwing them into a room.”
He described watching the chilling moments when each of the four students were killed, seemingly holding back tears.
When there was “no one left to shoot at,” because the school was evacuated and locked down, the shooter seemed to notice students hiding in the corner and he “fired a few rounds,” Mr Wagrowski said, recalling watching the footage.
He also mentioned that he saw the assistant principal approached the shooter and talked to him, noting the teen didn’t aim at or shoot her.
Mr Keast asked about seeing another student nearing the shooter before realizing that he was in the bathroom with the shooter. The ex-detective said, “I’ve never seen somebody actually run for their life.”
James Crumbley’s pained reaction
James Crumbley could be seen wiping his nose and closing his eyes as he listened to harrowing testimony from Mr Wagrowski, who was telling the court about the surveillance footage that he watched.
Mr Crumbley appeared pained and was breathing heavily as he listened with headphones over his head.
Disturbing texts revealed in court
The witness also testified about texts and social media exchanges between the Crumbleys.
The court was read messages that the parents sent one another, highlighting some concerns they had over their son.
Mr Wagrowski one message exchange stood out. Mr Crumbley’s son and his friend sent more than 20,000 texts from January through the end of October. The expert said he has seen phones that have fewer than 20,000 messages on the device total.
The proseuctor pointed out that’s “double” the amount of messages sent from the shooter and his friend compared to Jennifer and James’ messages in the same time period, which he estimated to be 10,000 messages.
Aside from this one friend, Mr Wagrowski added, messages between Ethan Crumbley and other people totalled less than 1,000 messages.
In April 2021 messages between him and his good friend, revealed in court, the high school sophomore said he was hearing things, like “voices,” adding, “I actually asked my dad to take [me] to the doctor yestercay but he just gave me some pills and told me to ‘suck it up.’” Ethan Crumbley also said he told his mom who laughed at him, texts shown in court revealed.
Other messages show the shooter felt like he was “mentally and physically dying” and said that he wanted to ask his parents to go to the doctor again.
The court also watched videos that the shooter sent to his friend, showing Ethan holding a handgun. One video captured the sophomore holding a loaded gun. “My dad left it out so I thought. ‘Why not’ lol,” Ethan wrote his friend after he sent the video in August 2021.