Michigan school shooting suspect's mother texted him, 'Don't do it,' prosecutors allege

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Michigan school shooting suspect's mother texted him, 'Don't do it,' prosecutors allege
A police vehicle remains parked outside of Oxford High School on December 01, 2021 in Oxford, Michigan.Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images
  • The mother of the Michigan shooting suspect texted him, "Don't do it," prosecutors said on Friday.
  • Prosecutors also said the suspect's dad called 911 when he realized a gun was missing from his home.
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The mother of the suspect in the Michigan high-school shooting texted him, "Ethan, don't do it," on Tuesday afternoon after learning there had been a shooting at the school, a prosecutor said on Friday.

Oakland County Prosecutor Karen McDonald said Jennifer Crumbley sent the text to her 15-year-old son at 1:22 p.m.

At 1:37 p.m., the boy's father, James, called 911 after realizing a gun was missing from his home, McDonald said, adding that he'd believed his son may have been the shooter.

McDonald said the parents had apparently purchased the handgun that was used in the shooting as a Christmas present.

The shooting at Oxford High School killed four students and injured seven other people. Prosecutors have charged the 15-year-old with murder and terrorism.

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McDonald on Friday announced charges of involuntary manslaughter against James and Jennifer Crumbley.

In the days before the shooting, a teacher caught the boy looking up ammunition on his phone, McDonald said. The school called and emailed his mother, but she didn't respond, McDonald said.

McDonald said Jennifer texted her son: "Lol I'm not mad at you. You have to learn not to get caught."

McDonald said that on the morning of the shooting, one of the boy's teachers saw a note he had written and found it so alarming that she took a picture of it.

McDonald said the note included a drawing of a semiautomatic handgun pointing at the words "the thoughts won't stop help me"; a drawing of a bullet with the words "blood everywhere"; a drawing of a person who appeared to have been shot and was bleeding; and a drawing of a laughing emoji.

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She said the note also had the words "my life is useless" and "the world is dead."

She said that the teen was removed from class and that his parents were called to the school for a meeting, where they were told they had to get their son into counseling within 48 hours. They "resisted the idea" of bringing him home from school, so they left, and he returned to class, McDonald said.

She said that neither parent asked their son where his gun was or whether he had it with him that day.

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