School shooting in Michigan: Why were the suspect’s parents charged? | | Gun Violence Issues

Parents of 15-year-old accused of killing four students at a high school in southeastern Michigan last week had “stopped” mass shootings but decided not to take action, authorities have said.

This is what prompted the state prosecutors to take pictures murder cases a lawsuit filed by James and Jennifer Crumbley that viewers say is one of the first cases in which the parents of a mass shooter in the United States were prosecuted.

Mr Crumbley, who has pleaded not guilty, is expected to make a strong defense, but experts say the charges against him send a strong message to a country that is struggling to break free. gun violence in school.

“Some of the reasons for each charge are two [pronged], to punish the perpetrator, and to deter others, “Jamil Khuja, a former defense lawyer and former Detroit district attorney, told Al Jazeera.

“So the message is: ‘Well, if you have a gun, you should shut it off and make sure your children do not find it without your knowledge.’”

Time of events

Authorities say Ethan Crumbley opened fire on the “road” at Oxford High School north of Detroit on November 30, killing four people and injuring seven others in preparation. He faces a number of charges, including terrorism and the murder of the first person.

While serving a life sentence, his parents could face up to 15 years in prison if convicted of manslaughter.

Khuja said it was ultimately up to the prosecuting attorney – also known as a district attorney in some parts of the US – to file a lawsuit, a decision that is often taken as the available evidence could lead to a criminal conviction.

Critics say James Crumbley bought the gun for his son on November 26 and his mother took him to the shooting the next day. Jennifer Crumbley also took her son out to look for weapons on his cell phone at school days before the shooting, authorities said. “LOL I’m not mad at you. You have to learn not to get caught, “he said in a text message, according to protesters.

On the day of the shooting, Crumbley’s parents were called to the school after a teacher found a piece of paper on the teenager’s desk with the victim’s name, gun, bullet and the words “blood everywhere” and “help me”. The parents were told to receive counsel from Ethan, but left after the meeting because the teenager was allowed to return to class.

“I think what the prosecutor did was looking for evidence – some of the messages and posts on social media, careless. [the parents] he had a gun with his son – and he said, ‘he should be held accountable’, “Khuja said.

‘There must be an accounting’

In Michigan, each district elects its own attorney. Oakland County Attorney Karen McDonald, a former judge, was elected in Oakland County in 2020 as a Democrat.

Announcing the Crumbleys’ case last week, McDonald said the couple’s actions were “not uncommon” and “conspiracy”.

He told reporters the idea of ​​prosecuting those who want to deter others. “The case is for the perpetrators to respond and send a message that the owners of the firearms are responsible,” he said.

However, Crumbleys’ lawyers said in the first court case that last week the Ethan Crumbley gun he used in the shooting was “locked up”, arguing that there was “more going on” than what the prosecutor told the court.

However, the couple’s alleged move was welcomed by gunmen, including Michigan’s Moms Demand Action and Students Demand Action headlines, which belong to the Everytown for Gun Safety advocacy network.

“If gun owners fail to fulfill their duty to keep their firearms safe and in the event of a disaster, there must be a case of wrongdoing,” Shannon Watts, co-founder of Moms Demand Action, said in a statement. “We need to make gun owners aware of their role and responsibility to keep their firearms safe, and to establish and enforce laws to deal with firearms if they fail to do so.”

Students hug outside Oxford High School in Michigan, December 1st [File: Paul Sancya/AP Photo]

Reaching a gun

Most U.S. school shooters find their guns at home, according to a 2019 report (PDF) and the US Secret Service’s National Threat Assessment Center which investigated school violence between 2008 and 2017. The report states that “most firearms were unsafe”.

There were 229 gun-related incidents, including nine weapons, in US schools so far in 2021, according to the Naval Postgraduate School. In between of National Security and Security. The attack killed 39 people on school property.

Rebeccah Sokol, an assistant professor at Wayne State University’s School of Social Work in Detroit, who specializes in coping with adolescents’ problems, said stricter child rights laws appear to prevent gunshot wounds and teenage deaths.

But gun laws vary from state to state, and Michigan has no gun control laws, which would require gun owners to “keep their unarmed guns and locks unattended”, according to the Giffords Law Center, a firearms control group.

“Security regulations encourage people to carry guns wisely so that gun owners can keep their guns down and locked up without a supervisor,” the agency said. details in support of such laws. “These laws protect the rights of people, including children, from accessing and using firearms, which can reduce the risk of suicide, accidental evacuation, and theft of firearms.”

McDonald, the state’s attorney general, argued that Michigan law was “extremely inadequate” and that the shooting at Oxford High School has led to stricter gun control laws in the state and nationwide.

“One thing we do know is that getting a gun is one of the main causes of youth violence,” Sokol told Al Jazeera. “And we know that most of the young people who are injured as a result of guns happen with guns that a teenager gets from home or from a relative or friend.”

Sokol did not directly respond to the Crumbleys case, but said reducing children’s access to firearms should be included in an effort to curb gun violence.

“To see how [the Oxford shooting] it affects the community, the stress it causes, the stress it causes, the stress it causes in everyone’s life – people are scared, “Sokol said.” – to prevent such problems from happening in the future. “