Michigan shooting suspect Crumbley's parents plead not guilty, held on $1 million bond: LIVE UPDATES
The parents of Michigan school shooting suspect Ethan Crumbley were taken into custody overnight Friday following a manhunt and were booked into jail on a $1 million bond on Saturday. James and Jennifer Crumbley face involuntary manslaughter charges in connection to the shooting, which left four high school students dead. They have both pleaded not guilty.
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The lawyer of an Oakland County resident who local law enforcement believes may have a connection to James and Jennifer Crumbley's disappearance told Fox News that if he had known the couple had active warrants, he would not have let them come to the building where his business is located.
"If he knew they had charges or active warrants, he definitely would not even have let them come by," Sikora's lawyer Clarence Dass told Fox News.
Dass added that Sikora did not know that the couple was on the run.
On Sunday, Dass issued a statement saying that Sikora is a "person of interest" but has not been charged with any crime and has been in contact with the Oakland County Sheriff's Office to provide information.
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An Oakland County, Michigan, resident has retained a lawyer for his reported connection into the disappearances of James and Jennifer Crumbley, the parents of accused school shooter Ethan Crumbley. The Michigan resident is in contact with the Oakland County Sheriff's Office, Fox News has learned.
Andrzej Sikora, 65, is an Oakland County resident and is the owner of Decora Interior Art Design, which has a location inside the building where James and Jennifer Crumbley were found by law enforcement officers early Saturday morning.
Sikora's attorney, Clarence Dass, issued a statement on Sunday saying that Sikora is a "person of interest" but has not been charged with any crime and has reached out to the Oakland County Sherrif's Office to provide information.
"Mr. Sikora has not been charged with any crime. Nevertheless, upon learning of the Crumbleys’ arrest on December 4, 2021, he voluntarily contacted the Detroit Police Department and Oakland County Sheriff’s Office to provide information," Dass said.
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Oakland County Sheriff's Detectives will meet with Andrzej Sikora on Monday, who they believe may be linked to the disappearance of James and Jennifer Crumbley.
"Andrzej Sikora, 65, will be interviewed Monday afternoon by Sheriff’s Detectives as to any connection he may have to the disappearance of Jennifer and James Crumbley. The couple was the focus of an intensive manhunt Friday and Saturday by the Sheriff’s Fugitive Apprehension Team, the U.S. Marshal’s Service, FBI, Michigan State Police and the Detroit Police Department. They were arrested by Detroit Police early Saturday in a commercial building in the 1100 block of Bellevue near Jefferson Avenue in Detroit. The commercial space is linked to Sikora," the press release from the Oakland County Sheriff's Office reads.
“We will vigorously investigate the totality of the situation so a determination can be made if there is any criminality or obstruction of justice involved,” Sheriff Michael Bouchard said. “Our findings will be presented to the prosecutor.”
An independent investigation has been launched into the events leading up to the school shooting at Oxford High School that left four students dead and seven others injured.
The Oxford Community Schools Superintendent Tim Thorne made the announcement on Saturday and said that after the Oakland County Prosecutor's press conference, many parents had questions about the school's "version of events" that led up to the shooting.
He said the independent investigation would help understand all interactions that Ethan Crumbley had with students and staff members at the school.
The Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel said that her office could conduct the investigation.
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The accused Michigan high school shooter convinced school officials ahead of the deadly rampage that violent drawings he made were for a "video game," a letter released Saturday by the school shows.
"On the morning of Nov. 30, a teacher observed concerning drawings and written statements that have been detailed in media reports, which the teacher reported to school counselors and the Dean of students. The student was immediately removed from the classroom and brought to the guidance counselor’s office where he claimed the drawing was part of a video game he was designing and informed counselors that he planned to pursue video game design as a career," a letter sent to the Oxford High School community from Oxford Community Schools superintendent Tim Thorne on Saturday states.
"We have clear evidence this was premeditated and he was actually looking forward to it," Oakland County Sheriff Michael Bouchard told reporters Saturday.
Ethan Crumbley's parents never told school officials that the boy had "direct access" to a gun during a meeting in the office hours before the shooting unfolded, Oxford Community Schools Superintendent Tim Throne said Saturday in a letter to the school community.
Crumbley, 15, and his parents were called into a meeting hours before the shooting after a teacher found him with violent drawings. The parents were advised he needed counseling but he was allowed to return to class and the shooting took place that afternoon.
Crumbley arraignment on Dec. 4, 2021. (Oakland County District Court)
Attorneys for James and Jennifer Crumbley have claimed that the gun their son allegedly used to kill four students at his high school was kept in a locked drawer, contrary to what prosecutors have said.
"That gun was actually locked, so when the prosecution is stating that this child had free access to a gun, that is...absolutely not true," attorney Mariell Lehman said Saturday morning during the couple's arraignment.
James Crumbley bought the 9mm Sig Sauer pistol four days before the shooting.
The pair are each charged with four counts of involuntary manslaughter in connection with the deadly shooting.
A former Assistant United States Attorney told Fox News that the charges brought against Ethan Crumbley's parents are "absolutely warranted" and that each one could each face 10-15 years in prison if convicted.
Former U.S. attorney Neama Rahmani said that while it's "very rare" for prosecutors to charge the parents of a suspect in a school shooting, the prosecution has a strong case.
"What's more dangerous than buying a gun for your kid and knowing that, you know, he's making, you know, drawing these violent pictures and school officials are concerned and doing nothing about it. In my book, that's certainly creating a situation where the risk of death was very high," Rahmani said.
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Oakland County Sheriff Mike Bouchard said on Saturday that a person who may have helped James and Jennifer Crumbley hide during their manhunt Friday night could face charges.
"We believe they were assisted in that location, to get there and get in," he said, according to the Detroit Free Press. "We're gathering information and will present that to our prosecutor for potential charges for either aiding and abetting, or obstruction of justice."
Authorities said the couple didn't break into the commercial warehouse in Detroit where they hid and were arrested early Saturday, saying a third person appeared to have let them inside. The person and their relationship to the couple has not been publicly identified by authorities.
Oxford Community Schools plans to hire a third party to review the actions of Oxford High School staff members before shooting suspect Ethan Crumbley, 15, allegedly opened fire in a hallway killing four students last Tuesday.
"Our community and our families deserve a full, transparent accounting of what occurred," Superintendent Tim Throne wrote in a letter to the school community Saturday. "We also plan to make regular updates to our families and community."
He said people had asked about “the school’s version of events leading up to the shooting.”
Ethan spoke with school guidance counselors just hours before the shooting after a teacher found violent drawings he made depicting someone who had been shot and phrases like "The thoughts won't stop, help me" and “Blood everywhere.” Ethan claimed the drawings were for a video game he was designing.
Counselors said he seemed relaxed while waiting for his parents to arrive and they concluded he wasn’t a risk to himself or others after speaking with him. He allegedly opened fire in a hallway hours later, leaving four students dead and seven others hurt.
“The school should have been responsible to relay that to the sheriff’s office. It looks like this could have been prevented,” Robert Jordan, founder and director of St. Louis-based Protecting Our Students, said Friday, according to the Associated Press. “People died because of those mistakes.”
School staff notified Ethan’s parents that he needed to get counseling but the Crumbleys opted to send him back to class the day of the shooting.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Michigan shooting suspect Ethan Crumbley and his parents were all behind bars inside the same Oakland County lockup on Saturday, according to authorities.
James and Jennifer Crumbley joined their 15-year-old son inside the Oakland County Jail in Pontiac following their arrests in Detroit during the wee hours of Saturday morning, the New York Post reported.
The three family members were being held in separate areas of the jail and were not being permitted to communicate, Oakland County Sheriff Michael Bouchard said, according to the Post.
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Michigan shooting suspect Ethan Crumbley reportedly told concerned staff members at Oxford High School his violent drawings were for a video game he was designing.
The 15-year-old’s drawings were discovered by a teacher at his desk just hours before Tuesday’s shooting, in which his is accused of killing four students and injuring seven others.
The drawings depicted a handgun similar to the one allegedly used in the killings along with the words "The thoughts won't stop, help me" and “Blood everywhere” above a drawing of a person who had been shot twice. “My life is useless” and "the world is dead” were also written on the paper.
The teenager told a guidance counselor after he was taken out of class that he wanted to be a video game designer and claimed the drawings were related to a game he was making, Oxford Community Schools Superintendent Tim Throne wrote in a letter to the school community Saturday.
Guidance counselors said Ethan was calm while waiting for his parents to arrive and they concluded his wasn’t a risk for harming himself or others after watching and speaking to him.
His parents agreed with school officials that Ethan wasn’t at risk for violence and decided not to pull him out of school for the day after they were told he needed to get counseling. Hours later he allegedly opened fire in a hallway, killing four.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
This combo from photos provided by the Oakland County Sheriff's Office shows, from left, James Crumbley and Jennifer Crumbley. The parents of Ethan Crumbley, a teen accused of killing four students in a shooting at Oxford High School, plead not guilty to involuntary manslaughter charges on Saturday, Dec. 4, 2021. (Oakland County Sheriff's Office via AP)
James and Jennifer Crumbley were being held on a combined $1 million bond at the Oakland County Jail in Michigan Saturday after pleading not guilty to involuntary manslaughter charges connected to the fatal school shooting their 15-year-old son allegedly carried out last week.
The couple was the subject of a manhunt Friday night after the missed their arraignment. They were found in the early hours of Saturday hiding inside a commercial building in Detroit after someone reported their SUV parked in a nearby lot.
The judge and prosecutors agreed the couple posed a flight risk.
Jennifer Crumbley sobbed and struggled to respond to the judge’s questions Saturday at times and James Crumbley shook his head when a prosecutor said their son had full access to the gun used in the killings.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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