They got him a gun for Christmas. He killed four people at his school.
Here's why the parents of Ethan Crumbley were criminally charged after the Oxford High School shooting ...
Here's why the parents of Ethan Crumbley were criminally charged after the Oxford High School shooting ...
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00:00Both James and Jennifer Crumbly failed to ask their son if he had his gun with him or where his gun was located,
00:08and failed to inspect his backpack for the presence of the gun.
00:30I can confirm for you this evening that we have, or this morning,
00:44that we have taken into custody James and Jennifer Crumbly, the fugitives involved in the Oxford incident.
01:00Two separate videos recovered from Ethan's cell phone, taken in a search warrant,
01:22depicted a video made by him the night before the incident wherein he talked about shooting and killing students the next day at Oxford High School.
01:31A journal was recovered from Ethan's backpack, also detailing his desire to shoot up a school to include murdering students.
01:56At the meeting, James and Jennifer Crumbly were shown the drawing and were advised that they were required to get their son into counseling within 48 hours.
02:25Generally, parents are charged when they have some prior knowledge that there's a risk involved with the child.
02:34The easiest analogy is kind of like the dog bite case.
02:38If your dog bites somebody, that's an accident.
02:41If people have been complaining your dog's aggressive and there's all these problems where they've been to somebody else before, then you have greater liability.
02:50When the news of the active shooter at Oxford High School had been made public, Jennifer Crumbly texted to her son at 1.22pm, quote,
03:09Ethan, don't do it, end quote.
03:13At 1.37pm, James Crumbly called 911, reporting that a gun was missing from his house and he believed his son may be the shooter.
03:22We are charging this individual with one count of terrorism causing death, four counts of first degree murder, seven counts of assault with intent to murder, and 12 counts of possession of a firearm in the commission of a felony.
03:47Gun ownership is a right, and with that right comes great responsibility.
04:04When they fail to uphold that responsibility, there are serious and criminal consequences.
04:17We got a tip that they were here, or that possibly the fugitives were at this location, the vehicle was spotted.
04:40Our officers responded in a matter of minutes.
04:43When they got here, they set up a perimeter, did surveillance.
04:46They were in a commercial building in a room.
04:48We were able to take them into custody without incident.
04:51However, they were very distressed as they were walking out.
04:54Legal grounds still an involuntary manslaughter.
05:02You're doing an act that is so reckless or careless that, you know, it's something bad can happen.
05:13I think the interesting fact is that they purchased the gun and then there's these text messages where, you know, they're texting about it.
05:22He's texting about his new presence.
05:24So it's not only did they not act when they learned that he was, you know, writing the notes that were appeared to be threatening, but also that they did supply the weapon.