OXFORD TWP. (WWJ) - Oakland County Prosecutor Karen McDonald says she will have a decision on charges against the parents of the alleged Oxford High School shooter "within 24 hours."
McDonald first indicated on Wednesday that she was mulling criminal charges against the father and mother of 15-year-old Ethan Crumbley, who allegedly shot eleven people, killing four students on Tuesday.
"We know that owning a gun means securing it properly and locking it and keeping the ammunition separate and not allowing access to other individuals... particularly minors," McDonald said, at a news conference announcing terrorism, premeditated murder and other charges against Crumbley on Wednesday.
"We have to hold individuals accountable who don't do that," she added, declining to go into detail as to what the extent of any charges against the parents might be.
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According to Oakland County Sheriff Mike Bouchard, the 9mm semiautomatic pistol used in the shooting was purchased by Crumbley's father on Black Friday. The sheriff also disclosed that the teen and his parents met face-to-face with school officials at the school in the morning on the day of the shooting; although he would not discuss details, saying only there was a concerning incident in class.
What's not known at this time is whether the dad gave the gun to his son, or how else the teen got ahold of it.
On Thursday, the Associated Press reported that the gun used in the shooting seems to have been "freely available" to the teen, and that the parents actions went "far beyond negligence."
Earlier this week, WWJ Newsradio 950's Brook Allen asked WWJ Legal Analyst Charlie Langton about possible charges the parents could face.
"As we heard from (Sheriff) Michael Bouchard earlier, the gun was purchased legally, but then the gun got into the hands, illegally, of this alleged 15-year-old shooter," Langton said. "So whether or not there's a duty to keep, you know, the gun locked up... Whether or not the father, or the mother perhaps in this case, (were) accomplices. Did they know about this? You know, did they have any indication? I think that's probably what the evidence is going on."
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While she did not address this case specifically, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel spoke with the Detroit Free Press about how, hypothetically, a child shooter's parents could be implicated.
She said Michigan law provides a degree of accountability for adults who own guns that were used by a minor to commit a crime.
"Theoretically, if you had a case where you had a teenager who had demonstrated some sort of instability — mentally or suicidal or homicidal thoughts or actions, or anything to that extent — and in addition to that you still allowed this child to have unfettered access to a weapon, then theoretically I don't think it would be a huge stretch to charge the parents with involuntary manslaughter under those circumstances," Nessel said.
At Crumbley’s arraignment, Sheriff’s Lt. Tim Willis told the court that two videos recovered from the alleged shooter's phone showed Crumbley as he spoke about shooting and killing students the next day at Oxford High School. Willis said the videos were shot by Crumbley the night before the shooting.
Willis said investigators also found a journal in Crumbley's backpack with pages “detailing his desire to shoot up the school, to include murdering students.” On the teen's social-media accounts, Willis said posts showed that Crumbly had access to the handgun, and had practiced firing the weapon.
McDonald noted that evidence shows Crumbley began planning the deadly rampage “well before the incident.”
“This isn’t even a close call. This was absolutely premeditated," she said.
Crumbley is being held without bond, facing life in prison with the possibility of parole if convicted as charged in this case.
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