OXFORD, Mich. (WWJ) – A new lawsuit has been filed over the Nov. 30 shooting at Oxford High School that claimed the lives of four students and wounded six other students and a teacher.
Attorney Ven Johnson filed the lawsuit Thursday, on behalf of Oxford parents of one student killed in the shooting and others who witnessed the rampage.
Johnson says he could not sue the school district directly, citing governmental immunity, but instead, six Oxford High School employees were cited individually, including counselors, teachers and a dean of students. The lawsuit claims all allegedly had ample time to call law enforcement prior to the shooting.
Johnson says 15-year-old Ethan Crumbley, who has been charged as an adult in the shooting, was a troubled teen and district administrators and others should have had him evaluated and got Child Protective Services involved.
Johnson said during a news conference Thursday when a child is hurting, “that is a precursor to someone with high violent propensities.”
“Any psychiatrist, any school psychologist would tell you this is a troubled child that needs to be evaluated, yet they sat idly by and when they had the chance to stop it, they didn’t,” Johnson said.
The lawsuit was filed on behalf of Buck and Sheri Myre, whose 16-year-old son Tate was one of four students killed in the shooting, as well as other parents whose students were present.
The lawsuit accuses Crumbley and his parents of “intentional, reckless and negligent conduct,” claiming the parents – who have been charged with involuntary manslaughter – ignored signs their son needed psychiatric help.
It also accuses Oxford Counselors, the dean of students and three teachers of gross negligence in the days leading up to the massacre.
Johnson says under Michigan law, he cannot directly sue the district -- and that the staff is responsible.
“I wish I could sue the entire Oxford Community Schools. Because you could argue then they’ve set this up this way and now they’ve hung their teachers out to dry. And I would tell you you’re right,” Johnson said.
The attorney compared the need to speak up on the alleged warning signs surrounding Crumbley to a case of child abuse.
“Think about an obvious situation where a kid’s covered in black and blue bruises, right, and the teacher sees this and you ask them, talk to them, ‘you’ve got to do something about this,’” he said. “What if it turns out that it’s completely OK? ‘I’ll just send it to the principal and they send him home to get beaten and they die.’ No, you’ve got to call the police. And that’s why we have a liaison officer.”
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Lawyers representing Crumbley on Thursday filed notice in Oakland County Circuit Court that they plan to argue the teen was insane at the time of the shooting.
Crumbley has been charged with four counts of murder, one count of terrorism resulting in death and various weapons charges.
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