Parents of youth who caused US school shooting plead not guilty

The parents of the 15-year-old who opened fire at his U.S. high school Tuesday and killed four students pleaded not guilty to manslaughter on Saturday, and a judge set a $ 1 million bond for his release.

James and Jennifer Crumbley, parents of the suspect in the shooting, Ethan Crumbley, were arrested Friday night by agents who located them in an industrial building in Detroit, about 60 kilometers from the tragedy, in Oxford, Michigan.

Judge Julie Nicholson said the charges were “very, very serious” and set bail at $ 500,000 each, citing a “flight risk.”

The man and woman were considered fugitives – after allegedly withdrawing $ 4,000 in cash and turning off their cell phones – but their defense said Friday that their clients would turn themselves in to authorities.

In the November 30 shooting in the small town of Oxford, four students, between the ages of 14 and 17, were killed, while six others and a teacher were wounded.

Ethan Crumbley, who surrendered to the police without offering resistance, was charged with “murder” and “terrorist act” and could spend the rest of his days in prison, as he is being processed as an adult.

His parents are each charged with four counts of involuntary manslaughter, which carries a penalty of up to 15 years in prison.

The young man, who on Wednesday pleaded not guilty before a judge, is being held in solitary confinement.

Ethan “was the one who pulled the trigger,” but “there are other people who contributed to the events of November 30 and it is my intention to hold them accountable as well,” Oakland County Prosecutor Karen McDonald said Friday.

The indictment of the attacker’s parents, an unusual decision in the US courts, seeks to “send the message that gun owners have a responsibility,” the prosecutor explained.

Mass shootings at youth study centers are a scourge in the United States, where the right to own guns is guaranteed in the Constitution.

A Christmas present

The Crumbleys are charged not only for letting their son use a firearm they had purchased, but for ignoring growing signs that the teenager had violent intentions, even on the day of the tragedy.

Four days before the tragedy, James Crumbley had purchased the semi-automatic pistol his son used, a Sig Sauer 9mm, as an early Christmas present for Ethan.

The next day, Jennifer Crumbley took her son to a shooting range, and spread on social media that her son was “testing his new Christmas gift,” the prosecutor said Saturday.

“Instead of telling the school that he had unlimited access to the gun, they chose not to,” he stated. “They chose not to tell anyone that he could be dangerous, when it was clear, and to them it was entirely probable, that he was. ”He added.

At the time of purchase, the teenager posted a photo of the gun on Instagram. “I just got my new beauty today,” he wrote alongside a heart emoji.

But the Crumbleys’ attorney, Shannon Smith, told the judge that “it was completely false” that Ethan Crumbley had unrestricted access to the gun, and announced that they will appeal the charges.

According to the police, the young man had recorded a video the day before the shooting on his cell phone, announcing his intention to use the weapon at school, without actually divulging it.

On the day of the shooting, Ethan Crumbley was summoned with his parents by the school, who saw with “alarm” a note found by a teacher on the boy’s desk, McDonald said. In it a drawing of a semiautomatic pistol pointed to the phrase “The thoughts will not stop. Help me”.

The school authorities asked the parents to bring the young man to therapy within 48 hours.

The prosecutor maintained that the parents resisted taking their son home and he returned to class. After a while, the young man entered the bathroom and then came out with his gun, which he carried in his backpack. He fired at least 30 bullets.

McDonald said that when Jennifer Crumbley found out about the shooting, she texted her son. “Ethan, don’t do it,” he wrote.

Upon hearing the news, James Crumbley called 911 to report that a gun was missing from his home and that he believed his son could be the perpetrator of the shooting. The pistol had been locked in the marriage room. (I)