Michigan judge rules Oxford schools officials can’t be prosecuted for 2021 mass shooting of Ethan Crumbley

A Michigan judge has ruled that the Oxford School District and its employees cannot be sued over the 2021 mass shooting in which 15-year-old gunman Ethan Crumbley killed four students and wounded seven others.

In Friday’s order, Oakland County Judge Mary Ellen Brennan barred Oxford Public Schools from pursuing a civil lawsuit over the shooting, arguing that the district and its high school of more than a dozen employees are protected by government immunity.

Several lawsuits filed by survivors and families of the deceased have accused the district and staff of negligence, gross negligence and violations of child protection laws.

Over the months, Crumbley has appeared in at least one of the alleged lawsuits “relating to behavior indicative of psychiatric distress, suicidal or homicidal tendencies, and possible child abuse and neglect,” according to ABC News.

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The civil suit now names Ethan Crumbley and his parents, Jennifer and James Crumbley, as defendants, according to The Washington Post.

“The court finds that Ethan Crumbley’s act of firing the weapon was the ‘most immediate, effective and direct cause of the injury or damage,’ rather than the alleged conduct of the Oxford defendants,” Brennan wrote.

“On behalf of our clients in Oxford, we are deeply saddened and disappointed by Judge Brennan’s dismissal of all defendants in the Oxford Public Schools,” Detroit attorney Wayne Johnson said in a statement. A statement announcing that Brennan plans to appeal the decision to Michigan. Court of Appeal. “We believe that government immunity is wrong and unconstitutional and that the law should be changed immediately.”

Ethan Crumbley, now 16, pleaded guilty in October to charges of terrorism and first-degree murder.

On Nov. 30, 2021, he used a semi-automatic handgun on other teenagers in a hallway at the school, about 30 miles north of Detroit, authorities said. The four students killed are Tate Maire, 16, Hana St. Juliana, 14, Madisyn Baldwin, 17, and Justin Schilling, 17.

Jennifer Crumbley, left, and James Crumbley, right, face criminal charges after their son failed to obey warning signs months before the shooting at Oxford High School. They are also named in civil proceedings. (AP Photo/Paul Sancia, File)

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Prosecutors said they would seek a life sentence without the possibility of parole.

Jennifer and James Crumbley pleaded not guilty to four counts of murder.

Attorney Ven Johnson, representing the families of victims and survivors of the Oxford school shooting, said he will appeal the order exempting the school district and its employees from the civil lawsuit. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio, File)

Authorities say the parents were called to the school the morning of the shooting, but refused to take their son home after a 13-minute meeting. The teacher, who had seen Crumbley looking at ammunition on his phone during class the day before, ordered them to check on the teenager. Also, the parents are concerned about the teenager’s pistol and “Thoughts don’t stop. Help me.”

Oakland County Sheriff and District Attorney Karen MacDonald accused the school district of failing to alert a school resource officer about her concerns about Crumbley and for failing to search the teenager’s backpack in front of her. return to class approximately three hours before the shoot.

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In the lawsuit filed against the parents, McDonald accused James and Jennifer Crumbley of failing to keep the gun used in the shooting at home and failing to properly care for their son when he showed signs of mental distress. The Michigan Supreme Court ordered the state appeals court to hear the couple’s appeal.

When Ethan Crumbley pleaded guilty, he admitted that his parents used their own money to buy the gun, which was kept in an unlocked safe at their home.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.