PONTIAC, Mich. (AP) — Michigan authorities say they’re searching for two parents charged with involuntary manslaughter in a high school shooting.
Jennifer and James Crumbley are the parents of Ethan Crumbley, who is charged with murder and terrorism in the deaths of four students at Oxford High School on Tuesday.
Crumbley’s parents were charged Friday. A prosecutor says they gave their son access to a gun and didn’t intervene despite problems at school that day.
Oakland County Sheriff Mike Bouchard says an attorney for the Crumbleys hasn’t been able to reach them.
A prosecutor filed involuntary manslaughter charges earlier Friday against the couple, saying they failed to intervene on the day of the tragedy despite being confronted with a drawing and chilling message — “blood everywhere” — that was found at the boy’s desk.
The Crumbleys committed “egregious” acts, from buying a gun on Black Friday and making it available to Ethan Crumbley to resisting his removal from school when they were summoned a few hours before the shooting, Oakland County prosecutor Karen McDonald said.
“I expect parents and everyone to have humanity and to step in and stop a potential tragedy,” she said. “The conclusion I draw is that there was absolute reason to believe this individual was dangerous and disturbed.”
McDonald offered the most precise account so far, three days after four students were killed and others were wounded at Oxford High School, roughly 30 miles north of Detroit.
Ethan Crumbley, 15, emerged from a bathroom with a gun, shooting students in the hallway, investigators said. He’s charged as an adult with murder, terrorism and other crimes.
Under Michigan law, the involuntary manslaughter charge filed against the parents can be pursued if authorities believe someone contributed to a situation where there was a high chance of harm or death.
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