Michigan school shooting suspect detailed plans to kill in videos and journal, authorities say

OXFORD, Mich. — The 15-year-old charged in the killings of four of his Oxford High School classmates recorded videos on his cellphone the night before the shootings and wrote in a journal recovered in his backpack of plans to shoot and kill students, authorities said Wednesday.

School officials spoke with Ethan Crumbley on Monday over “concerning” classroom behavior and discussed the issue again with him and his parents in the hours before Tuesday’s alleged rampage, Oakland County Sheriff Michael Bouchard said.

Just before 1 p.m. Tuesday, Crumbley allegedly emerged from a school bathroom armed. Prosecutors said he then “methodically and deliberately” walked down a hallway before he began shooting at students and a teacher at close range. Bouchard said Crumbley’s alleged actions were seemingly random, based on video footage he and other investigators reviewed.

Four students died and seven others were injured. Bouchard said Crumbley fired 30 rounds from a Sig Sauer 9 mm semi-automatic pistol inside the school during the five-minute ordeal.

“Witnesses said he was tugging on doors. We know from visible evidence he shot through doors,” Bouchard said.

Crumbley was arraigned as an adult Wednesday in a Rochester Hills courtroom, where he stood mute on the charges during a virtual hearing. Judge Nancy Carniak of the 52nd District Court entered a not guilty plea on his behalf. Scott Kozak, an attorney who appeared on the defendant’s behalf, only said: “My client is standing mute and we’re asking the court to enter a not guilty plea.”

Crumbley is being held without bond at the Oakland County Jail after he was transferred from Children’s Village, a juvenile detention facility in Pontiac, following his arraignment. Kozak objected to the transfer, noting “these are all allegations and he has not been found guilty.”

In the aftermath, investigators found shattered shell casings, bloodstains in the hallway, classroom windows shattered and doors that had been shot through.

“It was horrific. As a police officer, you see terrible, terrible things,” Bouchard said. “It’s coldhearted. Absolutely brutal and coldhearted.”

The school had no prior disciplinary or behavioral complaints involving Crumbley and there were no reports that he had faced bullying, the sheriff added.

Oakland County Prosecutor Karen Mcdonald charged Crumbley on Wednesday as an adult 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. He faces up to life in prison without parole.

There’s “a mountain of digital evidence,” Mcdonald said, including social media and video. She said her office is confident that the shootings were “absolutely premeditated.”

“This is unspeakable,” she told reporters. “We send our kids to school and we think that they’re going to be safe.”

The terrorism charge, she added, was warranted not just for those who lost their lives and were wounded but for the students and families forever traumatized by the rampage.

“What about all the children who ran, screaming, hiding under desks? What about all the children at home right now who can’t eat and can’t sleep and can’t imagine a world where they could ever step foot back in that school?” Mcdonald said.

“Those are victims too and so are their families and so is the community. The charge of terrorism reflects that.”

The four students killed were Hana St. Juliana, 14; Madisyn Baldwin, 17; Tate Myre, 16; and Justin Shilling, 17.