PONTIAC, Mich. (NewsNation) — During the third day of James Crumbley’s trial, jurors heard from a counselor at Oxford High School, where his son was convicted of shooting and killing four students in 2021.
James Crumbley, 47, is charged with involuntary manslaughter. He’s accused of failing to secure a gun at home and ignoring signs of Ethan Crumbley’s mental distress before the then-15-year-old opened fire on Oxford High School on Nov. 20,2021.
Ethan Crumbley, now 17, was sentenced to life in prison, while his mother, Jennifer Crumbley, was found guilty of manslaughter.
On Monday morning, Shawn Hopkins, a counselor at Oxford High School in Michigan, said they had a meeting with both Ethan Crumbley and his parents just two hours before the shooting.
Hopkins testified about a worksheet that belonged to Ethan Crumbley showing graphic depictions of guns, dead bodies, and phrases like “help me the thoughts won’t stop” and “the world is dead.”
Ethan Crumbley’s math teacher had discovered that worksheet and brought it to Hopkins’ attention.
“… My initial concern was this student is drawing some things that lead me to think he might hurt himself,” Hopkins said.
When confronted with the worksheet, Ethan Crumbley had brushed it off, saying those drawings were because he was interested in designing video games, Hopkins testified.
Hopkins said he asked James and Jennifer Crumbley to take their son home and away from the school — but they denied that request, claiming they had to get back to work.
However, it was revealed in court James Crumbley hadn’t even began work that day.
“My words to them were I’d like him to to get help as soon as possible today as possible,” Hopkins said.
Nick Ejak, who was in charge of student discipline, was also questioned about that critical meeting with Ethan Crumbley’s parents.
Ejak said he was deeply concerned with the teen’s mental health, and had expected Jennifer and James Crumbley to take him home from school. However, he was reassured when James Crumbley expressed concern for his son, and told him he could talk to him about anything.
At one point, Ejak took possession of Ethan’s backpack, which held the gun used in the shooting. Ejak said, though, that he did not have grounds to check the bag.
“There needs to be some type of a suspicion or alert that I have that will allow me to do that,” he said. “And so in this situation, there was wasn’t something that alerted me that indicated that we needed to.”
Defense attorney Mariell Lehman asked if Ejak had believed Ethan Crumbley was not a threat to others.
“That’s a fair statement,” Ejak replied.
The Crumbleys are the first U.S. parents to be charged with having criminal responsibility for a mass school shooting committed by a child.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.