Michigan school shooting suspect posted direct threat on social media day before tragedy: lawsuit
Lawsuit states Ethan Crumbley allegedly posted threat to his Twitter account night before shooting
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Michigan school shooting suspect Ethan Crumbley made threats on social media days before he fatally shot four students, according to a new lawsuit filed Thursday against the school district on behalf of two survivors.
Plaintiffs Jeffrey Franz and Brandi Franz are suing the Oxford Community School District on behalf of their daughters, who are 12th- and ninth-grade students at Oxford High School — one of whom was shot in the neck and one of whom "narrowly escaped" bullets "discharging toward her." The complaint was filed Thursday in a Michigan district court.
Plaintiffs allege that Principal Steven Wolf and Superintendent Tim Thorne made "the student victims less safe" before Crumbley, 15, brought a weapon to school and opened fire on his classmates.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}People embrace as they pay their respects at a memorial at Oxford High School, a day after a shooting that left four dead and eight injured, in Oxford, Michigan, Dec. 1, 2021. (REUTERS/Seth Herald TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY)
"Previous to the November 30, 2021 incident, Ethan Crumbley posted countdowns and threats of bodily harm, including death, on his social media accounts, warning of violent tendencies and murderous ideology prior to actually coming to school with the handgun and ammunition to perpetuate the slaughter," the lawsuit states.
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Crumbley allegedly posted this statement to his Twitter account on the night before the shooting, according to the lawsuit: "Now I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds. See you tomorrow Oxford."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Although his account was private at the time, he put the quote in his profile biography, which is available for the public to see.
Ethan Crumbley, 15, allegedly shot and killed four students and injured seven others at Oxford High School. (Oakland County Sheriff's Office)
On or around Nov. 16, parents apparently voiced their concerns to Wolf about Crumbley's threats made on social media.
In a Nov. 16 email to parents, Wolf wrote, "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," according to the lawsuit.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The complaint also alleges that Thorne "sent correspondence and emails to parents at Oxford High School reassuring them that their children were safe at Oxford High School."
People attend a vigil downtown to honor those killed and wounded during the recent shooting at Oxford High School on Dec. 3, 2021, in Oxford, Michigan. (Scott Olson/Getty Images)
Thorne apparently "warned the students, via loudspeaker, to stop spreading information over social media and to stop relying on information on social media, reiterating that there were no threats that posed any danger to students at Oxford High School."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Attorney Timothy Mullins responded to Franz's attorney, Geoffrey Fieger, on Thursday afternoon. Mullins said Ryan Moore, one of the defendants mentioned in his lawsuit, is "not the Dean of Students" at Oxford High.
"I demand you publicly retract this lie and apologize to Mr. Moore," Mullins wrote.
The attorney added that the "prosecutor has requested" the defense "not comment on these matters to avoid the ongoing court procedures," and that he has "no intention of litigating this matter in the media."
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The Franz family is alleging that the school district and its employees were aware of threats from Crumbley's social media accounts and that defendants' subsequent actions "were objectively unreasonable and performed knowingly, deliberately and indifferently to Plaintiffs’ Minors…and in reckless disregard to Plaintiffs’ Minors’ safety."
The four students who died in the shooting are 16-year-old Tate Myre, 14-year-old Hana St. Juliana, 17-year-old Madisyn Baldwin and 15-year-old Justin Shilling.