The Michigan high school shooting suspect is a bullied 15-year-old sophomore who now faces multiple first-degree murder and terrorism charges in the deadly Monday afternoon attack.
Ethan Crumbley, 15, is charged with killing four students and injuring seven others when he allegedly opened fire at Oxford High School, about 40 miles north of Detroit, on Tuesday.
On Wednesday, officials at the Oakland County Sheriff’s Office said the teen shot a video the night before that spoke about killing students — and made similar threats in a journal found in his backpack.
He was awaiting arraignment late Wednesday.
His father purchased the 9mm Sig Sauer used in the shooting just four days earlier on Black Friday, Oakland County Sheriff Michael Bouchard said.
Oakland County Prosecutor Karen McDonald said Wednesday that her office is considering charges against both parents.
She said Crumbley had been charged as an adult with murder, terrorism, assault and weapons possession charges.
Crumbley had posted photos of the gun, and him firing it, in the lead-up to the school shooting, the sheriff added.
Investigators said they are still trying to determine a motive for the deadly shooting because the suspect isn’t speaking to them. However, some classmates have said Crumbley was bullied, according to the Detroit Free Press.
Investigators say Crumbley’s parents, James and Jennifer, advised their son not to speak to authorities following his arrest. Police must get permission from a juvenile’s parents or guardian in order to speak with them, Undersheriff Mike McCabe said.
Police raided the family’s home, which is about two miles from the school, and seized several long guns from the house, the Daily Mail reported.
The outlet said the teen’s father works for an office software supply company, Autonomous, Inc.
Meanwhile, investigators are doing a “deep dive” on Crumbley’s social media accounts to try to determine a motive or see if there were any red flags.
Crumbley was featured in the local Oxford Leader newspaper back in 2017 when he spoke of an elementary school group project on poverty and hunger.
“I see people on the streets sometimes that are homeless and hungry, and so I feel like I should take action and help them,” he was quoted as saying.
Authorities said late Tuesday they were made aware of social media posts saying there had been threats of a shooting at Oxford, but the sheriff said they didn’t know about the rumors until after the attack.
“Now I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds,” a since-deleted Instagram account bearing Crumbley’s name read, according to Fox 2 Detroit. “See you tomorrow, Oxford.”
Part of that quote comes from a sacred Hindu text that nuclear scientist Robert Oppenheimer, the “father” of the atomic bomb, said he thought of in 1945 as he watched a test detonation.
The sheriff said Crumbley had no previous run-ins with his department and he wasn’t aware of any disciplinary history at school ahead of the shooting.
Authorities swarmed his family home hours after the shooting and were spotted hauling away evidence, including what appeared to be long guns, Fox 2 footage showed.
Crumbley was taken into custody in the school hallway just minutes after deputies arrived around lunchtime.
The teen put his hands up as deputies approached him, the sheriff said, adding that his gun was found to have seven additional rounds in it.
Three of the students who were killed in the shooting were identified Tuesday by authorities as 16-year-old Tate Myre, 14-year-old Hana St. Juliana and 17-year-old Madisyn Baldwin. A fourth teen, Justin Shilling, 17, died of his wounds Wednesday.
Myre died in a patrol car as a deputy tried to get him to an emergency room, according to the sheriff.
Seven students, ranging from 14 to 17, were hospitalized with gunshot wounds, including several who were in critical condition. One 14-year-old girl was placed on a ventilator after surgery.
A teacher who received a graze wound to the shoulder left the hospital Tuesday after being treated, authorities said.
