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Prosecutor tells jury that mother of Michigan school shooter is at fault for 4 student deaths

Prosecutor tells jury that mother of Michigan school shooter is at fault for 4 student deaths
November 30th 2021. Oxford High School in southeastern Michigan, *** 15 year old student using *** handgun shot and killed four students, six students and one teacher were injured using Oxford as an example. We examine what is any school supposed to do before and after *** shooting, this is clarified, my son is not *** child anymore. You know, when you're, when you're *** teenager, there's *** certain like cloak of invincibility that you're, you're surrounded by loss isn't something they know much of Once the shooting happened, it just, it took all that away. Lori Bordeaux's son survived the shooting at Oxford High School in Michigan in 2021 and he is now *** senior. They're still looking for answers on the morning of November 31, an Oxford student exhibited troubling signs. He was seeing, researching bullets online, creating disturbing drawings, watching shooting videos and even left *** dead bird head in the bathroom after seeing these red flags, the student, his family, school counselors and administrators met, but his parents refused to take him home and he was allowed to stay at school. The gun was in his backpack later that same day, he would use it and kill four students. What should *** school do when seeing these red flags? What could have prevented the tragedy? FBI guidelines say by engaging in the assessment and management process. As soon as *** person of concerns, identified threat managers are more likely to succeed in preventing *** violent outcome. Management strategy should be led by *** threat assessment team to help identify potential suicidal or homicidal students before an incident occurs. According to the district's guidelines, the team should also inform parents and coordinate services with law enforcement and mental health agencies. The National Association of School Psychologists recommends that all school staff members participate in annual risk assessment training and simulation drills. The year after the shooting, two former school board members say they stepped down because the district failed to enact threat assessment policies that have been approved since 2004. Given the events at Oxford High School, Lori, her son and other local families also question of proper threat assessment procedures took place before the shooting over *** year after the shooting at Oxford, an independent investigation has yet to be completed. By comparison, the investigation into Parkland shooting took 180 days for Uvalde 90 days. The people who have the answers aren't going to speak. So at this point in time, it's gotta be mandatory and it has to come with subpoena power. We can't leave it up to the people who are saying we did nothing wrong. Just recently, *** Michigan judge ruled that the school district and its employees cannot be defendants in two wrongful death lawsuits. Lawyers for the plaintiffs vowed to appeal and several other suits are still pending. The Oxford School District declined three offers from the Michigan Attorney General's Office to investigate the shooting separate from the sheriff's own investigation. Instead, the school district has hired Guidepost Solutions, *** security consulting firm to conduct an independent review of the days leading up to during and after the mass shooting. In an email, the school said people inside and outside our community who have joined our call for transparency and accountability can rest assured that all facts will come to light through the ongoing criminal investigation and various lawsuits. The review is expected to be completed in spring 2023. Lori Bordeaux said she hopes litigation will lead to *** federal investigation of the school and prevent future incidents of gun violence by pressuring the school to implement threat assessment training. We talked to one of the contributors of the fbi's guide to threat assessments. Katherine Sh White parents and the community are frustrated about whether the threat assessment process worked or didn't work. One of the things that I think it's fair to ask is, did they know about it ahead of time? What was the threat assessment team doing or, or was it, you know, form over substance following Sandy Hook in 2012. Katherine worked under then Vice President Biden to create and run the active shooter program. This aim to help communities prevent and recover from similar tragedies. I authored the initial research that the FBI did in the first few years of the time that we studied 2000, early, two, 2000, there were six incidents *** year using the same criteria that number rose to 60 incidents in 2021. It almost seems like until it hits *** community they don't do perhaps all they could do because there is always *** great desire to hope it never happens here When it does happen. Trauma and other challenges are likely to follow. According to research, K through 12 students who had been exposed to *** shooting at school are more likely to be chronically absent or held back *** grade, less likely to graduate high school or attend college By their mid 20s. Students exposed to *** shooting were more likely to be unemployed and had lower earnings compared to their peers who had not experienced the school shooting. *** couple of weeks after the shooting, my son said he wanted to switch schools. Our Children went right back to the exact same classrooms. The only thing they did was close one classroom, one bathroom. My son went back to the same fifth hour that he was in that day. And um That's the type of thing that honestly an investigation should be looking into is how did that affect our Children. In August 2022, Oxford schools announced *** three-year recovery plan that includes security threat assessment upgrades and mental health support in order to reclaim their school district and community makes me sad to think they lost their community because they haven't. And I think that's one of the big takeaways for me having been at so many of these scenes is all they've dealt with is somebody who intruded into their community. They shouldn't really have to feel that they have to reclaim it. It's always going to be theirs. When reached for comment, Oxford High responded From day one. We have cooperated with the ongoing criminal investigation and will continue to do so because our community deserves justice and accountability. We are also fully cooperating with the civil litigation process and will continue to do so. Sadly, Oxford is not *** unique tragedy. These types of shootings are on the rise and they have been for several years and that is in great part of culture issue for the United States, for communities that don't talk to their kids about the stresses they might be under, but also don't lock their guns up. You know, it's astonishing to think that most school shootings occur with *** legally purchased and available gun to somebody who may be *** minor, 90% of shootings by minors involved *** gun found in the home. That was the case for the Oxford shooter whose parents purchased *** handgun for their son days before the shooting, the parents were charged with four counts of manslaughter. Their trial has been temporarily halted by the Michigan Supreme Court and sent back to the court of appeals. Both parents remain in custody. Michigan currently doesn't require gun owners to secure their guns safely. Only these states do. Kelly Breen, *** Michigan state representative is looking to change that michiganders and people across the country agree that red flag legislation or extreme risk protection orders, safe storage and improving background checks. Those just makes sense. They just make sense. It's not just about stopping the next mass shooting, but it's about making sure that somebody poses an imminent threat to themselves or others. While making this video. Michigan was struck by another school shooting on February 13th, 2023. *** man killed three students and injured five others in *** dining hall at Michigan State before killing himself. One disturbing aspect of this event. Survivors of both the Oxford High school shooting and the Sandy Hook shooting grew up and were now attending Michigan State surviving one school shooting only to have to survive. Yet another talking about school shootings is complicated. But understanding the facts is the first step toward finding solutions to protect students.
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Prosecutor tells jury that mother of Michigan school shooter is at fault for 4 student deaths
A school shooting that killed four students in Michigan could have been prevented if the mother of the armed teen had removed him after seeing his violent drawings that same day, a prosecutor told jurors Thursday in an uncommon trial about parental responsibility.Video above: How do schools respond to gun incidents?Jennifer Crumbley is charged with involuntary manslaughter in the Nov. 30, 2021, attack at Oxford High School. Prosecutors say she and husband James Crumbley were grossly negligent and that their son's actions were foreseeable.Jennifer Crumbley was aware of Ethan Crumbley's deteriorating mental health and social isolation and knew that a gun drawn on a math assignment resembled the one that he had used with her at a shooting range, assistant prosecutor Marc Keast said."This was a purchase celebrated by Jennifer on Instagram: 'Mom and son day testing out his new X-mas present,'" Keast said, quoting a social media post.Instead of taking the boy home from school after seeing the drawing, Jennifer and her husband, James Crumbley, left a meeting after 11 minutes and allowed him to stay. He soon killed four students and wounded several others. No one had checked his backpack for a gun.The case against Jennifer Crumbley and her husband, who will stand trial in March, marks the first time that a parent has been charged in a mass shooting at a U.S. school."Even though she didn't pull the trigger, she's responsible for those deaths," Keast said in his opening statement.Keast focused on two key themes: access to a gun at the Crumbley home and the school meeting on the day of the shooting, when a teacher was alarmed by the teen's drawing of blood and a gun and the phrase, "The thoughts won't stop. Help me.""The two people in the world that had all of the information, all the background to put this drawing into context, were James and Jennifer Crumbley," Keast said. "They didn't say anything."They failed to follow through on "small and easy things that would have prevented all this from happening," he said.Defense attorney Shannon Smith told jurors that evidence of the shooting will "make you sick and disgusted." But she said Jennifer Crumbley was manipulated by her son and wasn't to blame.Jennifer Crumbley, who will testify in her own defense, was a "hypervigilant mother who cared more about her son than anything in the world," Smith said."Band-Aids don't stop bullet holes," she said, quoting a Taylor Swift song. "That's what this case is all about – the prosecutor attempting to put a Band-Aid on problems that can't be fixed with a Band-Aid."There was tension in the courtroom after jurors saw a brief video captured by a school security camera on the day of the shooting. Prosecutor Karen McDonald claimed Jennifer Crumbley and Smith were "sobbing" in violation of the judge's request that people control their emotions during the trial."We were not sobbing or making a scene," Smith said, her voice rising. "All my eye makeup is still on."The video was shown during the testimony of an assistant principal, one of only two staff eyewitnesses expected to be called by prosecutors to describe that day's chaos.A gun store employee, Cammy Back, told jurors that James Crumbley, accompanied by his son, bought a Sig Sauer handgun four days before the Oxford shooting. Jennifer Crumbley was not at the store.Ethan Crumbley, 17, was sentenced to life in prison in December after he pleaded guilty to murder, terrorism and other crimes. He was 15 at the time of the shooting.The parents have been in jail for more than two years awaiting trial, unable to afford a $500,000 bond. Involuntary manslaughter in Michigan carries a maximum sentence of 15 years in prison.

A school shooting that killed four students in Michigan could have been prevented if the mother of the armed teen had removed him after seeing his violent drawings that same day, a prosecutor told jurors Thursday in an uncommon trial about parental responsibility.

Video above: How do schools respond to gun incidents?

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Jennifer Crumbley is charged with involuntary manslaughter in the Nov. 30, 2021, attack at Oxford High School. Prosecutors say she and husband James Crumbley were grossly negligent and that their son's actions were foreseeable.

Jennifer Crumbley was aware of Ethan Crumbley's deteriorating mental health and social isolation and knew that a gun drawn on a math assignment resembled the one that he had used with her at a shooting range, assistant prosecutor Marc Keast said.

"This was a purchase celebrated by Jennifer on Instagram: 'Mom and son day testing out his new X-mas present,'" Keast said, quoting a social media post.

Instead of taking the boy home from school after seeing the drawing, Jennifer and her husband, James Crumbley, left a meeting after 11 minutes and allowed him to stay. He soon killed four students and wounded several others. No one had checked his backpack for a gun.

The case against Jennifer Crumbley and her husband, who will stand trial in March, marks the first time that a parent has been charged in a mass shooting at a U.S. school.

"Even though she didn't pull the trigger, she's responsible for those deaths," Keast said in his opening statement.

Keast focused on two key themes: access to a gun at the Crumbley home and the school meeting on the day of the shooting, when a teacher was alarmed by the teen's drawing of blood and a gun and the phrase, "The thoughts won't stop. Help me."

"The two people in the world that had all of the information, all the background to put this drawing into context, were James and Jennifer Crumbley," Keast said. "They didn't say anything."

They failed to follow through on "small and easy things that would have prevented all this from happening," he said.

Defense attorney Shannon Smith told jurors that evidence of the shooting will "make you sick and disgusted." But she said Jennifer Crumbley was manipulated by her son and wasn't to blame.

Jennifer Crumbley becomes emotional after seeing video of her son walking through Oxford High School during the Nov. 30, 2021 shooting rampage in the courtroom of Oakland County Judge Cheryl Matthews on Thursday, Jan. 25, 2024, in Pontiac, Mich.
Mandi Wright/Detroit Free Press via AP
Jennifer Crumbley becomes emotional after seeing video of her son walking through Oxford High School during the Nov. 30, 2021 shooting rampage in the courtroom of Oakland County Judge Cheryl Matthews on Thursday, Jan. 25, 2024, in Pontiac, Mich.

Jennifer Crumbley, who will testify in her own defense, was a "hypervigilant mother who cared more about her son than anything in the world," Smith said.

"Band-Aids don't stop bullet holes," she said, quoting a Taylor Swift song. "That's what this case is all about – the prosecutor attempting to put a Band-Aid on problems that can't be fixed with a Band-Aid."

There was tension in the courtroom after jurors saw a brief video captured by a school security camera on the day of the shooting. Prosecutor Karen McDonald claimed Jennifer Crumbley and Smith were "sobbing" in violation of the judge's request that people control their emotions during the trial.

"We were not sobbing or making a scene," Smith said, her voice rising. "All my eye makeup is still on."

The video was shown during the testimony of an assistant principal, one of only two staff eyewitnesses expected to be called by prosecutors to describe that day's chaos.

A gun store employee, Cammy Back, told jurors that James Crumbley, accompanied by his son, bought a Sig Sauer handgun four days before the Oxford shooting. Jennifer Crumbley was not at the store.

Ethan Crumbley, 17, was sentenced to life in prison in December after he pleaded guilty to murder, terrorism and other crimes. He was 15 at the time of the shooting.

The parents have been in jail for more than two years awaiting trial, unable to afford a $500,000 bond. Involuntary manslaughter in Michigan carries a maximum sentence of 15 years in prison.