PARENTS ON RUN
Vanish after slay raps in HS-son rampage
The parents of alleged Michigan school shooter Ethan Crumbley went missing on Friday — just hours after they were each charged with involuntary manslaughter in connection to their son’s deadly attack, authorities said.
The charges for James and Jennifer Crumbley stem from having purchased a gun for the teen in the days ahead of the shooting and for failing to take action when alerted to Ethan’s concerning behavior, Oakland County prosecutor Karen McDonald said.
Both local cops and federal authorities later said they were hunting for the couple. A reward of up to $10,000 was being offered for information leading to the capture of each Jennifer and James, the feds announced Friday night
The apparent fugitives took out $4,000 from an ATM in Rochester Hills, about 10 to 15 miles from Oxford on Friday, and also turned their cellphones off, meaning authorities can’t ping their whereabouts, lawenforcement sources told CNN.
The couple’s attorneys, Shannon Smith and Mariell Lehman, said, however, that the pair were not hiding from cops.
“Crumbleys left town on the night of the tragic shooting for their own safety,” the lawyers said in a statement, adding they would turn themselves in.
Prosecutors said that when news of the Tuesday shooting broke, Jennifer immediately texted her son, saying, “Ethan, don’t do it,” and James rushed home to check his guns, proving they had a feeling that their son might be responsible.
“I want to be really clear that these charges are meant to hold the individuals who contributed to this tragedy accountable and also send a message that gun owners have a responsibility,” McDonald said.
She also laid out how the school made mistakes that helped contribute to the attack, including knowing that Ethan, 15, was drawing pictures of a gun with the words “the thoughts won’t stop, help me” and then failing to tell law enforcement and letting him back into class.
McDonald spoke to the fury directed at the school for letting Crumbley return to class.
“I’d be angry too, and I am,” she said. “There were a lot of things that could have been so simple to prevent.”
Laurie Levenson, a Loyola Law School professor, said it is “extremely rare” for parents to face such charges.
“The prosecutor revealed today that not only did the parents buy the gun, but they let the gun be readily available to their son,” Levenson said. “They acted with what we call extreme negligence.”
Crumbley’s parents have had previous run-ins with law enforcement. They were each charged with DUI in 2005 and pleaded no contest. Jennifer was twice accused of writing bad checks. The charges were dropped once and she was fined the second time.
McDonald blasted the parents as “irresponsible” for not immediately turning themselves in.
Ethan Crumbley, meanwhile, is being held without bail on murder and terrorism charges over Tuesday’s Oxford High School rampage that left four dead and seven injured.