The parents of one of the victims of the Oxford High School shooting are suing several employees of the school and the suspect’s parents over their handling of the teenager before he allegedly committed the shooting.
The lawsuit, which seeks unspecified damages, was filed in Oakland County Circuit Court in Michigan on Thursday. It was filed by the parents of Tate Myre and by several high school students who survived the shooting. The lawsuit alleges that the inaction of several school employees and the parents allowed 15-year-old Ethan Crumbley to enter the school with a firearm, murder four fellow students, and injure seven others on Nov. 30.
“Every person in that school, not just the kids, are victims of this entire series of events that were caused by the Crumbleys. Absolutely, that’s there in the lawsuit, but also because of the failures of the personnel,” said Ven Johnson, the lawyer representing the Myres, at a press conference.
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Johnson went into detail about Crumbley’s mental state, including sharing sketches from the teenager reflecting his mental state that led to his initial visit to school counselors.
The lawsuit specifically names two school counselors, the dean of students, and three unnamed teachers, alongside Crumbley and his parents.
All three teachers were in direct contact with Crumbley while violating school policy, including when Crumbley was searching for ammo and watching footage of shootings, the lawsuit claims. The decision not to act breached Michigan’s Child Protection Act, which requires certain persons to report evidence of abuse or neglect, and the counselors failed to report Crumbley’s concerning behavior or act accordingly, the filing adds.
James and Jennifer Crumbley were also complicit because they purchased their son his firearm and failed to remove him from school after he was called in for counseling, the lawsuit continues.
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The Myres’s lawsuit seeks undefined damages for counts of wrongful death, assault, violations of the Child Protection Act, and inflicting emotional distress.
Ethan Crumbley’s lawyers revealed on Wednesday that he intends to plead insanity as part of his defense. His parents pleaded not guilty to manslaughter charges.
