Ethan Crumbley: Sheriff says suspect was ‘looking forward’ to attack as parents appear in court
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Ethan Crumbley’s parents pleaded not guilty to charges of involuntary manslaughter in connection to their son’s alleged shooting rampage at Oxford High School that led to the death of four students on Tuesday.
James and Jennifer Crumbley appeared at an arraignment in front of judge Julie Nicholson this morning after being arrested by Detroit Police around 1.30am earlier today.
The arrest came after officers found a vehicle, believed to belong to the Crumbleys late on Friday, when they were searching for the couple. The vehicle was reported by the owner of the industrial building where the couple was located.
James and Jennifer Crumbley, parents of the 15-year-old accused, had gone missing after being charged with involuntary manslaughter on Friday.
Prosecutor Karen McDonald announced the charges against James and Jennifer Crumbley on Friday, three days after their son Ethan allegedly killed four classmates and wounded seven others.
On Tuesday morning, the parents attended a meeting with Mr Crumbley and administrators after another teacher found a note on his desk with a drawing of a handgun that read: “The thoughts won’t stop, help me.”
The parents allegedly insisted Mr Crumbley return to class, and three hours later he carried out the massacre. When she heard reports of an active shooter, Jennifer Crumbley allegedly texted: “Ethan, don’t do it.”
Everything we know about Ethan Crumbley’s parents, who have been arrested and charged with manslaughter
Oxford school shooting suspect Ethan Crumbley’s mother weeps as she and husband plead not guilty after arrest
Oxford school shooting: Parents of alleged Michigan school shooter arrested in Detroit after going missing
Read the full statement by Crumbleys’ lawyers
The two lawyers for James and Jennifer Crumbley have released a statement saying they had “fully intended to turn them in” before they were apprehended by police.
“While it’s human nature to want to find someone to blame or something to point to or something that gives us answers, the charges in this case are intended to make an example and send a message,” attorneys Shannon Smith and Mariell Lehman said. “The prosecution has very much cherry-picked and slanted specific facts to further their narrative to do that.”
Read the full statement here:
Crumbleys’ lawyers insist ‘they were never fleeing prosecution’
The lawyers for James and Jennifer Crumbley insisted during their arraignment that the couple had not been fleeing when they were found by police in a Detroit warehouse on Saturday.
“Mr Crumbley, as with Mrs Crumbley, is not a flight risk, he is not a danger to the community,” attorney Mariell Lehman told the judge. “There's no risk that they're going to flee prosecution. They were never fleeing prosecution.”
Read more about the Crumbleys’ dramatic arraignment
The mother of Michigan high school shooting suspect Ethan Crumbley wept as she and her husband pleaded not guilty at their arraignment, hours after they were arrested following a huge overnight manhunt.
Jennifer and James Crumbley were arraigned on Saturday morning with four counts each of involuntary manslaughter in connection to Tuesday’s mass shooting, where their 15-year-old son allegedly shot dead four students and wounded seven other people at Oxford High School.
They both pleaded not guilty to all the charges via videolink from Oakland County Jail - the same jail where their son has been held since his arrest on multiple counts of murder and terrorism.
Ms Crumbley sobbed and covered her face with her hand as she said she understood the charges and entered her plea.
Read more here:
Ethan Crumbley’s mother weeps as she pleads not guilty following arrest
Jennifer and James Crumbley appear at their arraignment on four charges of involuntary manslaughter in connection to Tuesday’s mass shooting which left four students dead and seven other people wounded
Suspect’s social media had been filled with warning signs, officials say
Police sifting through Ethan Crumbley’s social media say he had posted numerous disturbing posts before the shooting at Oxford High School.
Hours before the shooting, Mr Crumbley penned what’s been perceived as a “countdown” on social media, according to Fox 2 Detroit.
“Now I become death – destroyer of worlds – see you tomorrow Oxford,” a post on his since-deleted Instagram account on Monday allegedly read.
Read more here:
Michigan suspect posted ominous messages before shooting, reports say
‘Now I become death – destroyer of worlds – see you tomorrow Oxford,’ Ethan Crumbley reportedly wrote on Instagram just a day before the massacre
How police caught the Crumbleys in Detroit
The parents of Ethan Crumbley, the suspect in the Oxford High School shooting, were arrested in Detroit on Saturday morning after they failed to appear at their arraignment the day before.
Detroit police said in the early hours of Saturday that 15-year-old Ethan’s parents had been taken into custody.
Officers found the couple at what “looked like a residential building,” Detroit police spokesman Rudy Harper said.
“We arrested them,” Harper said when asked if the parents turned themselves in.
Read more here:
Parents of alleged Michigan school shooter arrested in Detroit, authorities say
The couple was arrested in a ‘residential building’, police say
Ethan Crumbley drew violent imagery on morning of shooting, prosecutor says
Prosecutors say that on the morning of the Oxford High School shooting, a teacher spotted a drawing by suspect Ethan Crumbley that included a gun, a bullet, a bleeding person, and disturbing notes.
“The thoughts won’t stop. Help me,” some of the words allegedly read. “Blood everywhere.”
School officials immediately called in Ethan’s parents, but the couple refused to take their son home from school, prosecutor Karen McDonald says.
Before their arrest, Crumbleys withdrew $4,000 and turned phones off
After charges were announced against James and Jennifer Crumbley, the couple withdrew $4,000 in cash and turned off their cell phones – possibly so they couldn’t be located.
Police eventually found the pair in a warehouse in Detroit, after they missed their arraignment. The Crumbleys’ lawyers say they were not fleeing prosecution.
Read more here:
Ethan Crumbley’s mother weeps as she pleads not guilty following arrest
Jennifer and James Crumbley appear at their arraignment on four charges of involuntary manslaughter in connection to Tuesday’s mass shooting which left four students dead and seven other people wounded
Prosecutors say Ethan Crumbley had gun with him at parent-teacher meeting
The teen accused of carrying out a deadly shooting at his Michigan high school allegedly had the gun in his backpack during a meeting with administrators and his parents just three hours before the attack.
Oakland County Prosecutor Karen McDonald on Thursday said the teen brought the backpack with the gun into a meeting with school officials and his parents, James and Jennifer Crumbley.
The meeting was called after a teacher reported “behaviour they felt was concerning” from Mr Crumbley. A different teacher had raised nearly identical concerns the day before, after which Mr Crumbley received “counselling” from school officials, who left a call with his parents.
Read more here:
Michigan school shooting: Ethan Crumbley ‘had gun with him’ at meeting before attack
Prosecutors say the handgun Crumbley allegedly used in Tuesday’s deadly shooting was in his backpack when he arrived at school that morning
Detroit police thank everyone involved in Crumbleys’ arrests
The Detroit Police Department has posted a note of thanks to all the law enforcement officials involved in arresting Jennifer and James Crumbley.
“Chief James White would like to thank all of the officers who bravely responded last night to 1111 Bellevue,” the DPD said in a tweet. “Thank you to the incredibly hardworking women and men of DPD. Also, thanks to Border Patrol, @mspmetrodet, US Marshals, and Oakland County Sheriff's.”
The parents of accused shooter Ethan Crumbley were apprehended at a warehouse in Detroit earlier today after they missed their arraignment.
Crowd gathers outside hospital to support organ-donating victim
A crowd of hundreds gathered outside a Michigan hospital on Friday in support of Justin Shilling, one of the victims of the Oxford High School mass shooting earlier this week, as his body was moved into surgery for organ donation.
The 17-year-old was proclaimed dead on Wednesday, a day after the fatal shooting. Four students were killed and seven others were injured after their classmate allegedly opened fire indiscriminately in the halls of the high school.
Justin’s family has decided to donate his organs to the Florida-based NGO Gift of Life. His body was kept on life support in the McLaren Oakland Hospital until the organs could be harvested.
Read more here:
Crowd gathers outside hospital of organ-donating victim of Michigan school shooting
Justin Shilling and three other students died after a classmate allegedly opened fire indiscriminately in their high school earlier this week