OAKLAND COUNTY (WWJ) - Brandon, Lake Orion and Oxford schools in Metro Detroit each received threatening phone calls from out-of-state numbers Friday morning, officials with the Oakland County Sheriff's Office said.
The Sheriff's office said the threats – which weren't credible – interrupted classes and prompted a quick response from authorities; the first threat was called into Oxford Schools before the Sheriff's office learned threats were also called to Brandon and Lake Orion high schools.
The call into Oxford High School said he was Ethan Crumbly, the accused Oxford shooter who has been charged with several felonies — including first-degree murder — for the Nov. 30 fatal shooting of four students and for wounding seven others.
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Crumbly is currently awaiting trail for his alleged crimes and being held without bond at the Oakland County Jail.
OCSO said the caller tried to fake a British accent and claimed he was depressed and he wanted to “shoot up the school” and “finish” the job he started.
A second call was received by the school, but the caller put on a phony Indian accent and again threatened to shoot up the school. The caller also told the school he was currently in attendance at Oxford High School. Laughter of children could be heard in the background before the school official said they were going to contact the police and the caller hung up.
Oxford High School was called yet a third time only time the call was answered by a Sherriff's School Resource Deputy. The caller said he was going to slap the Deputy if they hung up on him and once again juvenile laughter could be heard in the background.
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In the threat against Brandon schools, the caller said there was an man armed with an AR-15 gun in a black pickup truck in the school parking lot; the caller said he was going to shoot up the school.
When the detectives redialed the number, the male who answered the phone said he was Nathan Crumbley and refused to give his location.
Authorities were able to confirm both the number used to call Lake Orion and the number that called Brandon were the same; the calls are believed to have come from Florida and New York state.
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"We will put every necessary resource to investigating threats against any school, business or house of worship,” Sheriff Michael Bouchard said. “We have a pending request before the Oakland County Board of Commissioners for additional personnel to investigate threats and coordinate a response across the county.”
Bouchard said while the threats weren't credible, his office vowed to find those responsible and punish them to fullest extent of the law.
“Any threats are taken very seriously, whether they intended to complete the act or not,” Bouchard said. “Every applicable charge will be sought to bring these perpetrators to justice. This is not a joke.”
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