Oxford 15-year-old facing adult murder charges as 4th student dies in high school shooting

Frank Witsil
Detroit Free Press

A day after Michigan's worst school shooting in recent memory, another student died, authorities continue to investigate, and the prosecutor brought charges against the 15-year-old they said was responsible for so much suffering.  

Ethan Crumbley was charged as an adult with first-degree murder, terrorism, and related gun crimes, and transferred from Children's Village, a juvenile detention center, to the Oakland County Jail. 

If convicted, he faces life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Oakland County Prosecutor Karen McDonald approaches the microphone to announce charges against 15-year-old Ethan Crumbley on Dec. 1, 2021, from her office. The charges are related to a mass shooting incident that took place at Oxford High School on Tuesday, Nov. 30, 2021.

"I'm going to confirm the name of the suspect one time only," Oakland County Prosecutor Karen McDonald said at a news conference, noting she wanted to keep the focus on the victims "in this horrific tragedy," and praised the hundreds of first responders, who she said "reacted swiftly and bravely."

Crumbley was charged with four counts of first-degree murder, seven counts of assault with intent to murder, one count of terrorism causing death and 12 counts of possession of a firearm in the commission of a felony. 

A high school sophomore, the teen is accused of killing four people — Hana St. Juliana, 14; Tate Myre, 16; Madisyn Baldwin, 17, and Justin Shilling, 17 — and injuring seven others, including a teacher, with a 9mm Sig Sauer SP 2022 pistol.

Shilling, who was injured in the shooting, died at about 10 a.m. Wednesday at McLaren Oakland Hospital in Pontiac, Oakland County Undersheriff Mike McCabe said. 

All the shooting victims, including those injured, were named at the arraignment.

'Intent to kill':A visual timeline of deadly shooting at Oxford High School

A 'mountain' of evidence

McDonald declined to offer details of the case, saying that there's "a mountain of digital evidence, videotape, social media," and she said she is "confident" there was pre-meditation “well before the incident." 

The facts, she said, "suggest this was not just an impulsive act," adding that “we are considering charges against both parents" as the adults responsible for the gun, and that decision could come soon.

Oakland County Prosecutor Karen McDonald announces charges against 15-year-old Ethan Crumbley, charging him as an adult on Dec. 1, 2021, from her office related to a mass shooting incident that took place at Oxford High School on Tuesday, Nov. 30, 2021.

Sheriff Michael Bouchard said Wednesday he agreed with the charging decision and offered new details about the case, and tried to correct what he said was misinformation circulating on social media. 

The sheriff said the chilling video from inside Oxford High School on Tuesday afternoon, however, was not the teenage suspect, but a plainclothes deputy, who used the word "bro" to try to deescalate the tension and calm the students down.

There had been much speculation that the video, which surfaced on social media, was the suspect trying to impersonate a deputy to gain entry into a classroom.

The sheriff also reiterated that there was no information suggesting that there was a threat before the shooting. Issues related to other concerns — not the shooting — had been raised, but they were unrelated.

Bouchard confirmed the teen posted photos of what likely was the gun he used.  

Deputies, he said, recovered 30 shell casings — not a dozen, as he mentioned the day before — and Crumbley had 18 rounds of ammunition when arrested, 11 more than what investigators initially thought. 

The additional rounds, Bouchard said, means more lives likely were at risk.

At school, an eerie quiet

For many, the shooting has been what the governor called "every parent's worst nightmare."

At Oxford High, investigators worked through the night until 5 a.m. combing for evidence, trying to piece together the deadly shooting. They found, the sheriff said, the third magazine they had been seeking.

An Oakland County Sheriff sits outside of Oxford High School in Oxford, Mich. on Dec. 1, 2021.

The nearly 1,800 students who otherwise would have been getting ready for lessons Wednesday morning, instead were at home. 

The sounds of youths — the chattering in the halls, the opening and closing of lockers, and the rushing to class — were absent, replaced by an eerie quiet and the voices of local and national media doing stand-up reports.

In downtown Oxford, 34-year-old Dani Wagner said she never imagined this could happen. An employee at Mark Young Jewelers, she attended Oxford High and now has a child of her own.

Dani Wagner, 34, of Lake Orion, says she grew up in the community and graduated from Oxford High School and is one of the jewelers at Mark Young Jewelers. Wagner says, "My heart goes out to all the families who lost loved ones in the school shooting with just four weeks away from Christmas." Wagner has a 9-year-old daughter who attends school in Lake Orion and she's been thinking about getting her a cellphone for emergencies.

"They had their babies taken away from them, and it's almost Christmas. I just can't imagine having them ripped away from you like that," she said through tears, adding that "maybe it'll get people to open their eyes a little bit to everything going on and be closer as a community."

Several cars, abandoned Tuesday at the school as students fled, remained in the parking lot. A teen — likely a student — picked up her Jeep. She appeared, an onlooker said, as if she was still in shock.

It is unclear how long the high school will remain closed or whether administrators will decide to transition to remote learning.

In 2019, after a teen opened fire on students and staff at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, killing 17 people, and injuring more, many teachers and students struggled with survivor's guilt and post-traumatic stress disorder.

In that case, the shooter pleaded guilty and is expected to be sentenced next month. 

'Trying to kill people'

In a CNN interview, and also at his news conference, Bouchard said deputies found writings that contain the suspect's thoughts.

"The evidence I've seen shows he was very clearly trying to kill people," Bouchard told CNN, later adding that video of the shooting was chilling and shows "He was shooting people at close range often times toward the head or chest."

At the news conference, he was more reticent to talk about the writings.

Oxford Strong signs are popping up in and around downtown Oxford, Mich., to show his support for the community after the school shooting at the school on Dec. 1, 2021.

Elsewhere in Oakland County, at least one other school, Avondale High School, also was closed Wednesday as a precaution because there had been a social media post late Tuesday warning of "a copycat shooting tomorrow."

"It was very vague and general," Avondale Schools communications director Annette McAvoy said. "There was nothing specific about Avondale, but we did, out of an abundance of caution close our high school today."

In addition, in response to the online threat, the Brandon School District also closed, Oakland Schools communications director Sheri Stuart said, adding that many local districts are on heightened alert.

More:Oxford High School shooting video 'absolutely cold-hearted,' sheriff says

More:Chilling video shows pandemonium inside Oxford High School classroom during shooting

White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said administration officials have been in touch with state and local authorities, offering assistance, but she had no word to pass along as to whether or not President Joe Biden had talked to families of the victims.

“Our heart," she said, "goes out to this community and these families."

'This touches us all' 

On social media, some people changed their profile photo to the Oxford High Wildcats mascot over a black ribbon and the words: "Prayers for Oxford" as a show of support for the survivors.

A bouquet of roses sits on the sign on Dec. 1, 2021, outside of Oxford High School in Oxford, Mich., to show his support for the community after the school shooting at the school.

Twitter messages popped up using the hashtag #OxfordStrong.

There's also an online petition to rename the school's stadium after 16-year-old football player and honor student Tate Myre, one of the three students who was shot to death. It had nearly 50,000 signatures. 

And GoFundMe, a for-profit crowdfunding platform, said it is monitoring the platform for fundraisers.

The slain victims had been publicly identified just hours earlier.

"This touches us all personally, and deeply, and will for a long time," Bouchard said at a 10 p.m. Tuesday news conference. "But we also want the community to know that we're here for them and we will leave no stone unturned."

Oakland County Sheriff Michael Bouchard, right, speaks next to county executive David Coulter during a press briefing on the Oxford High School shooting at Oakland County Sheriff’s office Pontiac on Tuesday, Nov. 30, 2021.

Bouchard described how the deputy who arrived scooped up Myre and rushed him to the hospital in his car because it would be quicker. 

The teen died on the way.

The sheriff also mentioned that an employee in the 911 center who was taking calls is a relative of one of the teens killed in the shooting. 

A deputy, the sheriff said, has been assigned to each of the slain victim's families.

Gun violence epidemic

The sheriff offered new, heartbreaking details of how the shooting unfolded and tried to answer reporters' questions like, what was the motive? And many times he had to acknowledge that investigators still just didn't know. 

The sheriff also asked the public to share any information with police by calling the hotline, 248-858-4911, and emailing the sheriff's office at OCSO@oakgov.com. They could do so, he said, anonymously f they wanted.

Larry Delcourt, 63, of Romeo, holds a sign up while standing in downtown Oxford, Mich., to show his support for the community after the school shooting at Oxford High School, on Dec. 1, 2021. Delcourt says his community is also small and felt it on his heart to make a sign and come to Oxford.

The shooting is the latest one in what has been called an epidemic of gun violence across the United States; there have been at least 28 school shootings in 2021, according to Education Week.

Michigan's shooting, the publication said, was the deadliest.

Education Week tracks firearm-related injuries or deaths in schools.

Ten shootings have taken place on Michigan K-12 school property causing injury or death since 2014, according to Gun Violence Archive data. 

Bouchard was flanked by County Executive David Coulter, U.S. Rep. Elissa Slotkin, D- Holly, and Dr. Tressa Gardner, who represented two of the McLaren hospitals where many of the victims were taken.

Officials at the news conference urged everyone who needs help to seek it.

"Three precious teenagers have been taken from us and another seven students and a teacher were wounded," Coulter said, adding that "everybody in the Oxford community, in Oakland County, and frankly, the United States, has been impacted by this tragedy." 

Read more:

Everything we know: Oxford High School shooting 

What parents need to know, and how they can help 

Just before the Tuesday night news conference, hundreds of people — in shock and in tears — attended three different memorial services. They lit candles. They sought comfort. They said they didn't think something like this could happen in their community.

Yet, this year alone, school shootings have occurred in 19 states.

The sheriff detailed how his deputies and hundreds of other law enforcement officers from multiple agencies swarmed the school and rushed in. Every second, he said, counts, and law enforcement's quick actions likely saved lives. 

Within minutes, Bouchard said, deputies arrested a 15-year-old sophomore who turned himself in and they took possession of a pistol his father purchased just four days earlier

One photo taken from the school showed a classroom door, barricaded with several student desk chairs, and what a student said was a bullet hole in the wall.

A search for answers  

School surveillance video, the sheriff said, shows the suspect early Tuesday afternoon emerging from a bathroom with the pistol.

Detectives are still trying to determine where exactly he went next.

They are piecing together the suspect's path using school video, interviews with students and other witnesses, and other evidence, like shell casings, that has been gathered from the school.

Crumbley, Bouchard said Wednesday, likely brought the gun into the school in a backpack or tucked in his waist. There are no metal detectors at the school. The teen came out of a bathroom with the pistol, walked through hallways shooting.

"The person who's got the most insight into the motive," the sheriff had said, referring to Crumbley, "is not talking. So if we find anything in any of the evidence we've seized, or phone, or any evidence from the home, that will be something we're looking for." 

Bouchard said the teen was "coming down the hall" when he was arrested. The sheriff added active shooter training interrupted what potentially could have been even more victims.

Some students who were interviewed by reporters said they believe the suspect was bullied and was not well-known at the school.

Crumbley, the sheriff said, has declined to talk to investigators.

Parents walk their kids away from a parking lot where many students gathered after an active shooter situation at Oxford High School in Oxford, Mich., on Nov. 30. Police took a suspect into custody.

Bouchard, who said late Tuesday that the shooting is a wound that will "never go away," added Wednesday that he hoped anyone who was hurting would get assistance: "It is strength to seek help, not weakness." 

Contact Frank Witsil: 313-222-5022 or fwitsil@freepress.com. Staff photographer Kimberly P. Mitchell, staff writers Elisha Anderson, Emma Stein, USA TODAY and Free Press reports contributed.