Michigan teenager Ethan Crumbley admitted on Monday to killing four students and wounding several others in a mass shooting last year.
In a packed hearing in Oakland County court, the 16-year-old pleaded guilty to all 24 charges against him—including one count of terrorism causing death—in connection with the Nov. 30, 2021 massacre at Oxford High School. Wearing an orange jumpsuit and white mask, Crumbley admitted that he hid a gun in his backpack and pulled it out in the bathroom before opening fire on his classmates. In addition to killing 16-year-old Tate Myre, 17-year-old Madisyn Baldwin, 14-year-old Hana St. Juliana, and 17-year-old Justin Shilling, the teenager admitted to injuring one teacher and six other students.
Crumbley now faces life in prison without parole. His parents, Jennifer and James Crumbley, are also facing involuntary manslaughter charges after allegedly aiding the teenager in gaining access to firearms and ignoring warning signs before the attack. In the hearing, Crumbley said the gun he used in the massacre was purchased by his dad.
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The parents, who have pleaded not guilty, and are due back in court for a pre-trial hearing on Friday.
For her part, Paulette Michel Loftin, the teenager’s lawyer, told reporters after court on Monday that Crumbley was “taking accountability for his actions” and was remorseful. But his own plea was just part of the push for justice after Oxford became the rare school shooting case to ensnare parents as allegedly culpable for the bloodshed.
“Ethan Crumbley’s guilty plea is one small step forward on a long path towards obtaining full justice for our clients. We will continue to fight until the truth is revealed about what went wrong leading up to this tragedy, and who, including Crumbley’s parents and multiple Oxford Community Schools employees, could have and should have prevented it,” Ven Johnson, an attorney representing several families in a civil lawsuit Crumbley and his parents, said in a Monday statement after the hearing.
Authorities previously revealed that prior to the shooting, Crumbley had detailed his intention to murder his classmates in detailed descriptions in journal entries. Four days before the shooting, prosecutors allege that the Crumbley parents bought their teenager a handgun and left it in an unsecured cabinet in the house.
In a journal in Crumbley’s backpack, Oakland County Sheriff’s Lt. Tim Willis said, one entry detailed “his desire to shoot up the school, to include murdering students.” In two other videos found on his cell phone, Crumbly also “talked about shooting and killing students the next day at Oxford High School.”
The day before the shooting, a teacher saw Crumbley searching for ammunition on his cellphone—prompting officials to call his parents. Prosecutors allege that Jennifer Crumbley ignored the calls, instead texting her son “Lol, I’m not mad at you. You have to learn not to get caught.”
Hours before he opened fire, prosecutors say, another teacher found “a drawing of a semi-automatic handgun pointing at the words, ‘The thoughts won’t stop, help me’” on Crumbley’s desk. Crumbley’s parents were called to the school over the drawing, and administrators allegedly asked for the teenager to get counseling.
The Crumbleys, however, left their son behind at school after the meeting.
