The parents of the 15-year-old Ethan Crumbley, who was arrested last week for the deadly Michigan high school shooting, were arrested in a Detroit warehouse after being charged with involuntary manslaughter.
A judge in Michigan’s Oakland County set a bond at $500,000 each for James and Jennifer Crumbley after they were charged with four counts of involuntary manslaughter, but failed to attend the arraignment last Friday, which made them fugitives and set off a search for them.
The couple was arrested on Saturday on the first floor of an industrial or commercial building in Detroit, about 40 miles south of the Oxford area where they live after someone tipped the police about their vehicle being nearby.
“They appeared to be hiding in the building,” Detroit Police Chief James White said. “They were very distressed after they were detained.” Both James and Jennifer Crumbley were charged after investigations found that they were partially responsible for their son’s action.
The Sig Sauer gun was bought as a gift from James to Ethan just four days before the shooting. After a teacher saw Ethan Crumbley searching for ammunition on his phone during class, school officials tried to contact his parents the night before the shooting but got no response. It was later found Jennifer had exchanged texts with Ethan that day that read, “LOL, I’m not mad at you. You have to learn not to get caught.”
On the day of the shooting, another teacher found a disturbing note on Ethan’s desk, both parents were called to the school and told to get counseling for their son. However, the parents refused to take their son home and didn’t bother to check if he had the gun with him. Before Ethan was sent back to class, he went into the bathroom, took out the gun from his backpack, and opened fire.
According to the prosecutors, Jennifer Crumbley texted him after the shooting saying, “Ethan, don’t do it.” Ethan Crumbley was charged on Wednesday as an adult with terrorism, murder, and other counts in the shooting. The shooting has left four students dead and many others injured.
Both James and Jennifer Crumbley can face 10-15 years of prison if convicted. Former U.S. attorney Neama Rahmani said, “What’s more dangerous than buying a gun for your kid and knowing that he’s drawing these violent pictures and school officials are concerned and doing nothing about it. In my book, that’s certainly creating a situation where the risk of death was very high.”
