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The parents of a Michigan teenager accused of shooting his fellow classmates, and killing four of them, have been arrested after a manhunt that started after charges against them were announced.
The parents were arrested Friday and on Saturday Oakland County, Michigan, prosecutor Karen McDonald drew attention to the text messages sent by James and Jennifer Crumbley to their son,15-year-old Ethan Crumbley,” Fox News reported.
On November 21 a teacher in the school saw the future school shooter researching ammunition online. The school contacted Crumbley’s parents about it and their emails and calls were never returned.
“Instead of reacting to that as a concerned parent and worried about safety, Mrs. Crumbley texted, ‘L.O.L, just I’m not mad. Just next time, don’t get caught,'” the prosecutor said.
On Tuesday, when the teenager attacked his classmates with a 9 m.m. Sig Sauer pistol that his dad allegedly purchased, the pair “were called to the school about their son’s drawing, which clearly depicted threats and acts of violence,” she said.
“Instead of disclosing to the school that he had full access to this weapon, they chose not to take their son home. They chose not to tell anybody that he might be dangerous when it was clear [there was] every likelihood that he was. And instead, they left,” the prosecutor said.
But the worst was yet to come, the documents showed.
“After the active shooting announcement went out, Mrs. Crumbley texted her son, Ethan, ‘Don’t do it.’ And Mr. Crumbley went to his home purposely to search for this weapon because he was afraid his son had the weapon and was in fact shooting people and hurting them, which, as we know, is exactly what happened,” the prosecutor said.
On Friday the prosecutor said that And on the morning of the shooting one of his teachers saw a note on his desk that frightened her. The note was “a drawing of a semi-automatic handgun pointing at the words, ‘The thoughts won’t stop, help me.’ And another part of the note read ‘Blood everywhere.'”
“Between the drawing of the gun and the bullet is a drawing of a person who appears to have been shot twice and bleeding,” the prosecutor said. “Below that figure is a drawing of a laughing emoji. Further down the drawing are the words, ‘My life is useless,’ and to the right of that are the words, ‘The world is dead.'”
He was removed from the class and his parents were called in, but by the time a counselor got a hold of the picture the shooter had altered it.
“At the meeting, James and Jennifer Crumbley were shown the drawing and were advised that they were required to get their son into counseling within 48 hours,” the prosecutor said. “Both James and Jennifer Crumbley failed to ask their son if he had his gun with him or where his gun was located and failed to inspect his backpack for the presence of the gun, which he had with him.”
“These charges are intended to hold the individuals who contributed to this tragedy accountable and also send a message that gun owners have a responsibility. When they fail to uphold that responsibility, there are serious and criminal consequences,” the prosecutor said.
David Chipman, a veteran Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives agent said that if the parents had acted unlawfully then they should be charged with a crime.
But the attorney for the pair, Mariell Lehman, accused the prosecutor of making a “spectacle.”
“Unlike the prosecution, we weren’t attempting to make this a media … spectacle. This case is absolutely the saddest, most tragic, worst case imaginable. There is absolutely no doubt. But our clients were absolutely going to turn themselves in. It was just a matter of logistics, and all the prosecution had to do was communicate with me about it,” the attorney said.
