Parents of Michigan school shooters arrested in Detroit | Gun Violence Issues

Police in the United States have arrested the parents of a teenage girl who has been charged with felony criminal mischief killing four other high school students north of Detroit, Michigan.

Authorities began searching for James and Jennifer Crumbley after Oakland County protesters Friday was charged with four counts of manslaughter in line with the great campus shooting.

Prosecutors said Crumbley bought the gun for his son as a Christmas present and ignored warning signs that may have signaled such a killing.

Detroit police said Saturday morning that they had arrested the pair.

Police found the pair “looking like a dormitory”, Detroit police spokesman Rudy Harper said.

“We arrested them,” Harper said when asked if the parents had volunteered, adding that he was trying to escape after being arrested.

Detroit police chief James White said the pair did not break into the house where they were detained, but were allowed by someone else, adding that their accomplice could be charged again.

‘We can’t run’

The couple’s 15-year-old son, Ethan Crumbley, is being held without bail and is being held on suspicion of conspiracy to commit murder at a US school in 2021 on Tuesday at Oxford High School, about 60km (40 miles) north. in Detroit.

Crumbley’s parents are expected to appear in court Friday afternoon but have not responded to calls from their lawyers, according to Oakland County Undersheriff Mike McCabe, prompting the Sheriff’s escape team to investigate.

After failing to appear, the U.S. Marshals Service said it had taken the case and was cooperating with Oakland County officials in the investigation.

“Fleeing and neglecting their lawyer adds to the burden of litigation,” Oakland County Sheriff Michael Bouchard said in a statement Friday. “They cannot escape their share of the tragedy.”

However, the parents’ lawyers filed a statement Friday saying they wanted to return to trial.

“They are not running away from the police,” said lawyers Shannon Smith and Mariell Lehman.

‘It’s a criminal’

Four days before the shooting, Ethan Crumbley accompanied his father to a gun shop, where James Crumbley bought a 9mm pistol, protesters said.

Ethan Crumbley posted pictures of the gun on television, writing, “I just found my new beauty today.” The next day her mother wrote that the couple was “trying out her Christmas present,” Oakland County state spokeswoman Karen McDonald said.

McDonald cited several other clues that he said the parents had failed to take action.

On November 21, a teacher found Ethan Crumbley searching for weapons on his cell phone. Then his mother texted him, “LOL, I’m not mad at you. You have to learn not to get caught. ”

On the morning of the shooting, the teacher found Ethan Crumbley’s drawings depicting a handgun, a bullet and a bleeding man next to the words, “Blood everywhere,” “My life is worthless,” and “I will never forget it. – help me. “

School officials called the Crumbleys and advised them to give their child counseling within 48 hours, McDonald said. The parents “refused” the idea of ​​taking her home from school and did not search her purse or ask her about the gun, she said.

After Crumbley left the meeting without his son, Ethan Crumbley was returned to class and later stormed out of the bathroom with a shotgun, killing four students and injuring seven others, authorities said.

“The idea that a parent can read these words and know that their child has a deadly weapon they have given him is illegal – it is a crime,” the prosecutors said.

Under Michigan law, intentional homicide can be prosecuted if the government believes someone has contributed to the risk of injury or death.

Parents in the US are not accused of shooting children at school, just as many children get guns at the home of a parent or relative, according to experts.