Key moments surrounding the Michigan high school shooting in 2021
PONTIAC, MI — The jury is deliberating the involuntary manslaughter case against the father of a Michigan teenage boy who killed four classmates and injured others. It is the latest development in the shooting that took place on November 30, 2021 in Oxford, Michigan, just north of Detroit.
Here is a timeline of the events leading up to the verdict.
November 26, 2021: James Crumbley purchases a 9mm Sig Sauer from Acme Shooting Goods in Oxford. His son Ethan, then 15, posted a photo on Instagram of himself holding the semi-automatic pistol and wrote: “Today I got my new beauty. SIG SAUER 9mm. I will answer any questions.” It contains an emoji of a smiling face with heart eyes.
November 27, 2021: Jennifer Crumbley and Ethan take turns shooting the gun at a distance. She writes on social media that it is a “mother and son day when he tests out his new Christmas gift.”
November 29, 2021: A teacher sees Ethan, a sophomore at Oxford High, searching for ammunition online on his cell phone during class and reports it. Ethan tells the school staff that he and his mother recently went to a shooting range and that target shooting is a family hobby. The school staff calls his mother to let her know, but says he has no problems. While exchanging text messages with her son, she writes: “Lol. I’m not mad at you. You have to learn not to get caught.” That evening, Ethan Crumbley records a video detailing his plan to kill students.
November 30, 2021: Ethan Crumbley opens fire at Oxford High School, killing four students. Seven others, including a teacher, are injured. His parents had met with school officials that morning because violent drawings were found on his math paper, but he was not taken from school and his backpack was not searched. Two hours after the meeting, Ethan takes the gun from the backpack and uses it in the attack, then surrenders without a fight.
December 1, 2021: Ethan is charged as an adult with murder and terrorism.
December 3, 2021: James and Jennifer Crumbley are charged with involuntary manslaughter. The authorities cannot find them and a search is launched.
December 4, 2021: A judge places the parents on a joint $1 million bond, hours after police say they were caught hiding in a Detroit art studio with new phones and more than $6,000 in cash. They have pleaded not guilty to the charges.
December 9, 2021: The first lawsuits are filed seeking $100 million each against the Oxford school district, saying the violence could have been prevented.
January 24, 2022: Oxford High School reopens for the first time since the attack, with the school’s principal declaring “we are reclaiming our high school.”
October 24, 2022: Ethan Crumbley, 16 at the time, pleads guilty to terrorism and first-degree murder.
December 9, 2023: A judge sentences Ethan Crumbley, now 17, to life in prison after listening to hours of harrowing grief from parents and injured survivors.
January 23, 2024: Jennifer Crumbley goes on trial on charges of involuntary manslaughter in an unusual attempt to hold his parents criminally liable for the deaths.
February 6, 2024: Jennifer Crumbley is convicted of involuntary manslaughter, making her the first parent in the US to be held responsible for a child carrying out a mass attack on a school.
March 5, 2024: James Crumbley goes on trial on charges of involuntary manslaughter as a prosecutor tries to hold him, along with his wife, responsible for the deaths of four students.