Family of student wounded in Oxford school shooting is suing officials for $100m for not taking threats seriously
Lawyer calls shooting ‘entirely preventable’
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Your support makes all the difference.The family of one of the students who was shot during a mass shooting at Oxford High School is suing the school district, its officials and employees for "willfully misrepresenting the dangers" of a possible shooting and for allegedly acting recklessly after identifying the troubling behaviour of suspected gunman Ethan Crumbley.
According to CNN, the lawsuit was brought by Jeffrey and Brandi Franz, whose child, Riley Franz, was shot in the neck. Riley survived the shooting, which left four students dead and seven people, including Riley, injured.
The lawsuit is seeking more than $100m in damages and has requested a jury trial.
The shooting took place on 30 November, after which suspect Ethan Crumbley was taken into custody and charged as an adult with terrorism causing death and four counts of first-degree murder. He has pleaded not guilty to the charges.
Ethan Crumbley’s parents, James and Jennifer Crumbley, have also been charged with four counts each of involuntary manslaughter. They have also pleaded not guilty. Prosecutors brought the charges against the parents, arguing that they bought the gun used in the shooting for their son just days before the incident and allowed him free access to the firearm.
Ethan Crumbley’s teachers had reported that he displayed concerning behavior, including an incident in which he was looking up ammunition on his phone during class. His mother was alerted to the incident, but allegedly brushed it off, texting her son that she was "not mad" but that he needed to learn not to get caught.
On the day of the shooting, another teacher noted Ethan Crumbley doing something allegedly disturbing, so they took him to the school's office and called in his parents for a meeting. It was ultimately determined that he could return to his classroom. During the meeting Ethan Crumbley allegedly had a handgun in his back pack. Hours later, according to authorities, he began shooting his classmates.
Oxford Community Schools superintendent Tim Throne confirmed that Ethan Crumbley had been called to the office and that his parents were on the school's campus the day of the shooting.
"There's been a lot of talk about the student that was apprehended. That he was, you know, called up to the office and all that kind of stuff. No discipline was warranted. There are no discipline records at the high school. Yes, this student did have contact with our front office. And yes, his parents were on campus November 30th," he said during a video statement.
Attorney Geoffrey Fieger, who filed the lawsuit, said Thursday that he planned to amend the filing to include gross negligence and endangerment of children to the list of accusations. He called the shooting "entirely preventable”.
"At Oxford High School, they'll search your backpack if they think you're vaping, but they refused to suspend or search a student who wrote what we now know was reams of homicidal notes and drawings, scenes of classroom slaughter and mania," he said in a statement on Thursday.
Police recovered a journal kept by Ethan Crumbley in which he allegedly wrote about shooting his classmates, and also recovered cell phone videos he shot allegedly discussing his desire to kill his classmates.
The lawsuit points to the actions of several parents who alerted the school's principal, Steven Wolf, to the threats the accused gunman allegedly made online. In a statement he emailed to parents on 16 November – two weeks before the shooting – he said there was no threat at the school.
"I know I'm being redundant here, but there is absolutely no threat at the HS…large assumptions were made from a few social media posts, then the assumptions evolved into exaggerated rumors,” Mr Wolf wrote.