Mother texted ‘don’t do it’ to suspected Michigan school shooter: prosecutor

The mother of the Michigan school shooting suspect, Ethan Crumbley, texted her son “don’t do it” when news of the active shooter situation went public, Oakland County Prosecutor Karen McDonald said at a press conference on Friday.

Jennifer Crumbley, who met with school officials after teachers reported concerns regarding her 15-year-old son’s behavior just hours earlier, texted her son immediately on hearing the news, McDonald said.

The prosecutor said Jennifer Crumbley texted her son at 1:22 p.m. and at 1:37 p.m his father, James Crumbley, called 911 to report that his gun was missing. He told the operator that his son may have been the active shooter. 

Concerns over Ethan Crumbley’s behavior were first reported on Monday after “a teacher in the classroom where he was a student saw and heard something that she felt was concerning,” Oakland County Sheriff Michael Bouchard said on CNN’s “New Day.”

McDonald provided further details about the incident, saying that Ethan Crumbley was found searching for ammunition on his cellphone during class by a teacher. The teacher then reported him to the school for the first time.

Referencing that incident, the prosecutor said that after school officials contacted Jennifer Crumbley, she exchanged text messages with her son on that day saying, “lol, I’m not mad at you, you have to learn not to get caught.”

McDonald said that in a second reported incident a teacher found a drawing on the morning of the shooting, showing a gun pointing at words that read “the thoughts won’t stop, help me” and someone being shot twice.

“At the meeting James and Jennifer Crumbley were shown the drawing and were advised that they were required to get their son into counseling within 48 hours,” she said.

Two hours after that meeting, Ethan Crumbley left a bathroom with a loaded handgun and started shooting, the sheriff said on Tuesday. He allegedly killed four students and injured seven other people.

McDonald added that his parents “failed to ask their son if he had his gun with him or where his gun was located and failed to inspect his backpack for the presence of the gun, which he had with him.”

McDonald said that her office will bring charges against Crumbley’s parents “to hold people accountable and prevent other events from happening in the future.”

McDonald added that while the shooter was the one who pulled the trigger, “there are other individuals who contributed to this.”

— Updated at 1:49 p.m.