Michigan school district faces two $100M suits after Oxford shootings
SOUTHFIELD, Mich. — The parents of a 17-yearold girl who was shot in the neck at Oxford High School during a mass shooting that left four students dead filed a pair of lawsuits seeking $100 million each against a Michigan school district, saying Thursday that the violence could have been prevented.
The lawsuits were filed in federal court in Detroit by Jeffrey and Brandi Franz on behalf of their daughters, Riley, a senior who was wounded Nov. 30, and her sister Bella, a 14-yearold ninth-grader who was next to her at the time she was shot, attorney Geoffrey Fieger said.
The parents attended a news conference Thursday with Fieger in his Southfield offices. Jeffrey Franz appeared stoic, staring ahead as the personal injury lawyer accused school officials and staff at Oxford High of not doing enough to prevent the shooting and protect students. Brandi Franz sat, often with head bowed. The parents did not address reporters.
The lawsuits are the first known civil suits filed in connection with the shooting. Named in the suits are the Oxford school district, Superintendent Tim Throne, Oxford High School principal Steven Wolf, the dean of students, two counselors, two teachers and a staff member.
Ten students and a teacher were shot at the school in Oxford Township. Ethan Crumbley, a 15-yearold sophomore at the school, was arrested at the school and has been charged as an adult with murder, terrorism and other crimes.
Personal-injury lawyers have expressed doubt that the school district could be successfully sued for letting Crumbley stay in school. That’s because Michigan law sets a high bar to wring liability out of public schools and other arms of government.
Fieger said a federal lawsuit allows him to subpoena the school district for records and evidence connected to Crumbley and the shooting.