Oxford High School Shooting: Shooter ‘methodically and intentionally’ aimed and shot at students. Timeline of a school shooting tragedy

The four students killed were 17-year-old Madisyn Baldwin; Tate Myre, 16 years old; Hana St. Juliana, 14 years old; and Justin Shilling, 17, authorities said.

While the shootings lasted only a few minutes, authorities said there was substantial evidence that it was a premeditated attack by the accused shooter, 15-year-old Ethan Crumbley.

“A preliminary review of the defendant’s social media accounts, his cell phone, as well as other documentary evidence recovered at the scene indicates that the defendant planned the shooting. hey, he knowingly carried the gun that day with the intention of killing as many students as possible,” Prosecutor Marc Keast said in Crumbley’s settlement Wednesday.

The high school sophomore is facing a series of charges as an adult, including first-degree murder, terrorism and other charges. In court on Wednesday, his attorney, Scott Kozak, pleaded not guilty in the settlement, saying “my client is dumb.”

Weekend before filming

James Crumbley purchased the gun that authorities believe was used in the November 26 shooting at an Oxford store with his son, according to Karen McDonald, Oakland County prosecutor who is leading the charge. beginning of the case.

Around the same day, the alleged shooter posted a photo of a handgun on his Instagram account with the caption, “I got a new look today. SIG SAUER 9mm” with an emoji heart-shaped, McDonald’s said at a news conference on Friday.

Jennifer Crumbley also posted about the gun on social media over the weekend, saying, “the day mom and son tried his new Christmas present,” McDonald said.

And over the weekend, Jennifer Crumbley took her son to a shooting range, a law enforcement source told CNN.

Disruptive red flags before the shooting

When classes returned from the long Thanksgiving break, a teacher noticed Ethan Crumbley was searching for ammunition online, McDonald said. Teachers have notified school officials, they have contacted parents by phone and email, but they have not responded.

Then on Monday, Jennifer Crumbley sent him a text message saying, “LOL, I’m not mad at you. You have to learn not to get caught,” McDonald said.

In two phone videos of Crumbley recorded that night, he talks about shooting and killing students at the high school, said Lieutenant Tim Willis of the Oakland County Sheriff’s Office.

Another piece of evidence was a diary found in Crumbley’s backpack detailing his “desire to bombard the school to include the murder of students,” Willis said at the placement.

On Tuesday morning, another teacher found a drawing on the accused shooter’s desk that essentially depicts a shooting, McDonald said. The prosecutor said it “terrified her so much that she took a picture of it on her mobile phone”.

The illustration shows a “semi-automatic handgun pointing at the words ‘thoughts won’t stop helping me'” and it includes a drawing of a bullet with the words “blood everywhere” written up there, she said. The words “my life is useless” and “the world is dead” are also written on the drawing.

“Between the drawing of the gun and the bullet is a drawing of a person who appears to have been shot twice and is bleeding profusely. Below that is a drawing of a smiling emoji,” McDonald said.

The distressing photo prompted school officials to hold a meeting with the shooter and his parents, who were instructed to help counsel their son within 48 hours. During that meeting, Ethan Crumbley left the gun in his backpack, which was not searched, McDonald said.

McDonald’s said parents objected to the idea of ​​taking their son out of school, and he was allowed to return to the classroom.

“That morning, looking at that drawing, it was impossible not to conclude that there was reason to believe that he was going to hurt someone,” she said.

The superintendent said Thursday that there was no need for discipline against Crumbley after that meeting.

“You know, he’s been called to the office and all that,” Tim Throne said in a video statement. “No discipline guaranteed. No disciplinary record in high school.”

Prosecutors say video footage shows how the shooting began

After Ethan Crumbley was allowed back into the classroom, surveillance video from the school’s cameras showed what happened next, according to authorities.

Just before 12:51 p.m., Crumbley could be seen with a backpack, then a minute or two later he came out of the bathroom without his backpack but with a gun in hand, prosecutor Keast said. learned at Wednesday’s hearing.

After that, Crumbley is said to have begun “methodically and intentionally” walking down the hallway and pointing a gun at the students and firing at the weapon, Keast said. As the students began to flee, the defendant continued down the hallway at a “methodical speed” and shot inside the classrooms and at students who had not escaped, he said.

“What was depicted on that video, to be honest, I have no words to describe how horrible it was,” he said.

This continued for another four or five minutes, and he went into another bathroom, Keast said. When the delegates arrived, he lowered his gun and surrendered.

Aiden Page, a senior at Oxford High School, described a horrifying scene in her classroom.

“We grabbed the computer, we grabbed the scissors in case the shooter came in and we had to attack them,” he said, describing how the shooter was so close that a bullet went through one of the tables. which he and the other students used to block doors. .

Cumbey, the student who heard the shots initially, told CNN the shooter was so close to her classroom that when she spoke to the 911 operator she could only whisper, “High school shooter. Oxford” to avoid being overheard.

Oakland County Sheriff Michael Bouchard said dozens of other panicked students called 911. The call center received more than 100 calls when police arrived at the school at 12:52 p.m. local time.

Bouchard said the alleged shooter was arrested within two to three minutes of officers arriving.

“I believe they literally saved lives, after taking out the suspect with a loaded gun in the building,” the sheriff said.

At around 1:15 p.m., the news emerged about a shooting at the high school.

At 1:22 p.m., Jennifer Crumbley texted her son, “Ethan don’t do that,” according to prosecutors.

And at 1:37 p.m., prosecutors say, James Crumbley called 911 to report that a gun was missing from his home and that he believed his son might have been the shooter. .