Posted on 12/04/2021 5:22:08 AM PST by Kaslin
As has been the case with so many other school shootings over several years, last week's murder spree at Oakland High School in suburban Detroit might have been avoided if actions had been taken in the face of several obvious warning signs.
Ethan Crumbley, 15, is charged with murdering four of his fellow students and wounding with intent to kill seven others. He has also been charged with terrorism.
There were a series of signs leading up to this tragedy -- as there usually are -- that should have alerted people that Crumbley was a serious threat.
He had displayed disciplinary problems for some time. On the day of the shooting, he was summoned to the school office after misbehaving. His parents were also called in, an indication that officials were taking this latest incident more seriously than previous ones.
Oakland prosecutor Karen McDonald told CNN there is a "strong possibility" Crumbley had the gun used in the killings in his backpack when he met with school officials and his parents. Did no one think it unusual, if not suspicious, that Crumbley would bring the backpack with him, instead of leaving it in his locker or the classroom? Why didn't someone ask him to open the backpack and check its contents?
Crumbley's parents, James and Jennifer Crumbley, have been charged with four counts each of homicide and involuntary manslaughter. James Crumbley reportedly bought the gun Ethan is charged with using in the murders and gave it to his son. Why would a father do that and why was the weapon not properly secured so it could not be taken anywhere without parental notice, permission and supervision, especially to school? Did Ethan ask his father to purchase the gun for him? What reason did he give? Did James Crumbley ask him? Why would a father give a gun to a son with a record of disciplinary problems?
In a bizarre twist, the Daily Mail reported Jennifer Crumbley wrote then president-elect Donald Trump in November 2016, thanking him for his support of the right to bear arms and describing her son's struggles in school. She added that as a realtor she is grateful for the right to carry a gun because it "(allows) me to be protected if I show a home to someone with bad intentions."
In a search of Ethan Crumbley's cellphone, police found detailed descriptions of his wish to kill classmates. They say he also had a journal and in at least one social media post expressed elation that he had access to a handgun purchased by his father. Did no one else -- classmates, administrators or parents -- see or know about any of this? If they did, why was it not reported to authorities? How many times must we hear "if you see something, say something" before someone says something? Why must we always wonder after the fact why no one spoke up?
At his arraignment, Crumbley's lawyer entered a not guilty plea. Ethan is said not to be talking to investigators.
It is a sad commentary on the times in which we live that police officers are increasingly present outside and inside some schools and even churches. Will metal detectors be next? No parent should have to worry that sending their child off to school in the morning might be the last time they see them alive.
What happened at Oxford High School was pure evil, but evil can be resisted and overcome if people are pro-active in their thinking. It's sad to think in these terms, but potentially much sadder and intolerable if we don't.
“I could not help but notice that Old Never Trumper Cal just had to get a dig in to President Trump.”
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He was referencing the story about the mother writing a letter to President Trump. That letter was not real but was a HOAX letter put out.
“Honestly what kind of parents would buy their 15 year old child a gun?”
I am very disappointed to find that there are so many people who think it unusual for a parent to buy a gun for a 15 year old. It is nothing unusual here, and not one school shooting.
Speaking of laws, isn’t it illegal for a juvenile to own a handgun?
I agree with you when it comes to suburbanites buying their troubled young teen a semi-automatic handgun, especially if they don’t secure it when not supervising its use.
To everyone posting about kids getting hunting rifles and not shooting up schools:
My Dad grew up on a farm during the Great Depression. He and his brothers, at earlier ages than this kid, hunted for small game with 22 rifles to help put food on the table. Their strict father taught them proper gun safety, and they had great respect for guns and what they can do. A shotgun was kept over the front door well out of reach of the younger children, there for protection in case of bad guys, wild animals attacking livestock, rabid dogs, poisonous snakes, etc.
My mother grew up in the city, but visited relatives in the country who also kept shotguns over the front door back then. In high school, a teacher asked her to be on the girls’ trifle team and, although she had not really learned to shoot before, turned out to be a crack shot winning prizes and the state championship. She said the rifles were kept in a rack on the wall of the teacher’s classroom. No one ever took one of those rifles and shot up the school. Nowadays, it might only be a matter of time.
There is a huge difference between giving a hunting rifle to a level-headed kid who has been taught gun safety and gone hunting with his strict father, or a level-headed kid who goes to the range with responsible adults, and giving a handgun to a troubled kid whose notions about guns are derived from video games, TV, movies, etc. The former understand what a gun is for and what it can do to a living body and respect that. The latter too often see guns as toys. The troubled ones too often have developed unhealthy fantasies about them.
Nowadays, it seems only prudent to keep those guns locked up when not in use because kids have friends, and you never know what those friends might get up to these days or what drugs they may be taking.
This messed-up kid was no Kyle Rittenhouse.
When I was in high school I always carried my backpack with all my books for the day. Most of the time there simply wasn’t enough time between classes for me to get downstairs to my locker, switch books, and go back upstairs to class without being late.
I bought my 6 year old a .22 rifle some years ago. But it was always locked up under my exclusive control except when we went to the range.
And I deliberately got one which was too heavy for a 6 year old, so that it was necessary for me to hold the fore-stock (and incidentally maintain control over where it pointed) at the range.
Most do not.
I saw a post on another web site yesterday that some kid in New York was found with a firearm in school.
Metal detectors were brought in and 20 or more other kids were also found with pistol on their person.
So it appears to be more of a problem than originally thought.
Lots of parents have bought their 15 year old children guns. It's more common than you think. I was given guns when I was a teenager. But I also wasn't a psycho nut like this twerp is. Crumbley had known psychological problems and should never have been given a firearm. But all across America there are responsible teenagers who will receive a firearm this Christmas. The problem isn't guns, or parents giving them as presents, it's parents giving guns to emotionally disturbed children.
Mine
Your gun phobia is destroying America
I remember those days in the 1950s and ‘60s.
I also remember when all the kids carried folding knives and at recess we would set around and whet them. Never stabbed anyone but they came in useful to cut string and such in AG class.
Only one hillbilly tough carried a small hidden hunting knife, but he soon dropped out of school.
Only time I saw a knife pulled was in 1962 New Mexico when a Hispanic and Anglo boy faced off for a fight. Another Hispanic boy with a folding knife got behind the Anglo to attack if a fight commenced. It didn’t.
In general I would agree, but it is illegal for a minor to own a handgun. That’s the major difference here. All of these people on the thread talked about having long guns as kids and that being perfectly normal. Not one that I have read yet (in this thread) stated they had a handgun as a kid.
My parents bought me a gun when I was 4 months old. Put it in the crib with me, fully loaded and chambered. I never shot anyone with it; only target practice behind my Gam-gam’s house after church on Sunday. Look at me today: I’m a pillar of the community - neurosurgeon and part-time underwear model and US Congressman. I still have that gun mounted over my mantel with my shooting trophies and Emmy statuettes.
Some of you folks are ridiculous.
It’s almost like they wanted something to happen.
“That is a different story, the subject is 18 years old and an adult. The kid who shut and killed four of his class mates is only 15 years old. In other words he is a juvenile and has no business owning a gun.”
They are not different. They were both school shootings. That’s the important part, not their ages. If you think parents don’t give their kids guns every single day you live in a bubble. My father gave me my first at 12 years old, my son had his at the same age. Where’s all the stories about where the black kid got his gun? He couldn’t buy it legally. I have not see one story about that.
But my gifted weapon was a single shot .410 shotgun, given with the clear understanding that it was to be used to teach responsible handling and marksmanship, and hunting skills (no spray and pray) in the woods around our house and friends' properties in and around the same Cuyahoga valley where I take it you reside. Pistols, especially semi-auto 9mm, are self-defense weapons. Who in their right mind thinks it's alright to give a 9mm sidearm to a 15 year old? Let him use one at a range? Sure. In a strictly controlled format. "Hey, Son. Happy Birthday!"? Nope.
Social Media screens every word-—
THEY did NOT catch his postings????????
They may not have “owned” a handgun, but I bet most of them had one they could use. I certainly did.
You could be right, I experienced the same thing at times. I could swear I heard something about an official locker policy though.
Freegards
Isn’t the color working on your TV?
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