District declines Michigan AG offer to probe Oxford shooting
OXFORD TOWNSHIP, Mich. – Michigan’s attorney general said her office won’t conduct a school district’s planned third-party investigation into the events at Oxford High School that occurred before last week’s school shooting that left four students dead.
Oxford Community Schools Superintendent Tim Throne has said a third party will investigate. Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel had offered to conduct the investigation, but she said in statement late Monday that the school district had declined her offer.
“Despite this outcome, my department will continue to support the ongoing criminal investigation in Oakland County and looks forward to meeting with parents, students and teachers when they are ready to share their thoughts,” she said. Nessel has said she could still investigate.
Throne wrote in a statement Saturday that the district has “asked an independent security consultant to review all district safety practices and procedures. An initial review including review of videotaped evidence show staff and students’ response to the shooter was efficient, exemplary and definitely prevented further deaths and injuries.”
The district has not identified the firm conducting the review and has not responded to The Associated Press requesting information on who it is.
Oakland County Prosecutor Karen McDonald, who is overseeing the criminal case against the student accused in the Nov. 30 shooting and who took the rare step of charging his parents, left open the possibility that school officials could also face charges.
She noted that three hours before Ethan Crumbley allegedly opened fire, the 15-year-old was sent back to class after a meeting between school counselors and his parents over a drawing a teacher found on his desk that included a bullet and the words “blood everywhere.”