New details surrounding the Oakland county school shooting have landed school officials in hot water.
The first sign officials were in trouble occured when Oakland County, Michigan prosecutor Karen McDonald revealed that High School officials may be charged as well.
“It’s possible, yes,” Oakland County Prosecutor Karen McDonald said on NBC’s “Today” show when asked if it was “possible that school officials could face charges.”
McDonald didn’t go into details however, her announcement followed a CYA (cover your a**) letter issued by the schools superintendent Tim Thorne trying keep the school out of trouble.
“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,” the letter states.
“At no time did counselors believe the student might harm others based on his behavior, responses and demeanor, which appeared calm. In addition, despite media reports, whether or not the gun was in his backpack has not been confirmed by law enforcement to our knowledge nor by our investigation at this time,” the letter continued.
“While we understand this decision has caused anger, confusion and prompted understandable questioning, the counselors made a judgment based on their professional training and clinical experience and did not have all the facts we now know. Our counselors are deeply committed longstanding school members who have dedicated their lives to supporting students and addressing student mental health and behavioral issues,” the letter continued.
What has raised the attention of law enforcement was what occurred after a credible threat was established by a group of the schools guidance counselors.
A teacher ordered Crumbley to see the schools guidance counselors on the day of the shooting after they observed a “violent drawing described by law enforcement as depicting a gun, a bullet and a bleeding person, along with a handful of concerning phrases, among them: “The thoughts won’t stop, help me.”
Counselors told Crumbley’s parents that they had 48 hours to enter Ethan into therapy or they were going to call child services. Not one of the wizards of smart at the school thought it was a good idea to check his backpack or locker before sending him back to class. Crumbley’s parents were present counselors could have had them check his belongings. According to reports, the school had the authority in this situation to check Crumbley locker and backpack before sending him back to class.
Legal experts don’t believe that any school officials will end up in jail because the prosecutors would “have to find a criminal state of mind and intent to not protect people.”
However, that doesn’t mean officials weren’t negligent and the lawsuits have already started flying.