OXFORD, Mich. – Three students were killed and eight other people were injured in a shooting at Oxford High School on Tuesday, officials said.
Oakland County Undersheriff Mike McCabe said a 15-year-old sophomore student is the suspected shooter. The shooting happened at 12:51 p.m. in an area of the school where many history classes take place.
More than 100 calls were made to police during the shooting. McCabe said the suspect was in custody within five minutes of officials receiving the first 911 call.
Investigators recovered a semi-automatic handgun and found multiple spent shell cases. It is believed the suspect fired between 15-20 rounds.
All schools in the Oxford Community Schools district, including OELC, will be closed for the remainder of the week, officials announced.
View: Complete coverage on the Oxford High School shooting
911 received more than 100 calls
Officials said the first call to 911 was made around 12:51 p.m. Tuesday (Nov. 30). Within five minutes of that first 911 call, the suspected shooter was in custody.
More than 100 calls were made to police during the shooting. A handgun was recovered at the scene and police believe between 15-20 rounds were fired.
What we know about the suspected shooter
The suspected shooter’s identity has not been made public.
Oakland County Undersheriff Mike McCabe did say the suspect is a 15-year-old sophomore student at Oxford High School. He was taken into custody shortly after the shooting began. He did not resist arrest, McCabe said.
The suspect lives in the Village of Oxford. Police said the suspect immediately invoked his right to remain silent. McCabe said the suspect’s parents did not give officers permission to speak with their son.
“They (the suspect’s parents) came and saw their son at our Oxford Township substation and then left,” McCabe said.
The suspect is being held at Pontiac Children’s Village and is being lodged as a juvenile. McCabe said the prosecutor’s office could charge him as an adult if it decided to.
Oakland County Sheriff Michael Bouchard said the suspect had a loaded pistol when he was arrested. The suspect was not injured.
“I believe they (responding officers) literally saved lives,” Bouchard said.
Bouchard said the weapon the suspect used had been purchased on Nov. 26 by the boy’s father. The gun had three magazines with 15 rounds each. Two of those magazines have been recovered by police and Bouchard believes the third will be found at the scene.
Bouchard said they believe 12 rounds were fired. That information is based on casings observed on the ground. The scene is being processed and will continue to be processed throughout the night.
“We will release as much information as we can, as soon as we can, that won’t jeopardize any prosecution,” Bouchard said.
Officials have seized the suspect’s phone. The suspect and the suspect’s parents are not cooperating with the investigation.
“We have a tremendous amount of video footage that will be in the school,” Bouchard said. “Review exactly what and where and when. The only information that I had is that he came out of a bathroom with the weapon and I don’t know where he went first.”
The investigation is ongoing and deputies are still trying to determine a motive. It is not clear when the suspect will be officially charged.
What we know about the victims
The identities of the victims have been released to the public by officials.
Deceased:
- 16-year-old Tate Myre, who died in a patrol car on the way to a hospital.
Injured:
- 14-year-old boy who suffered jaw and head wounds.
- 14-year-old girl in critical condition with chest and neck gunshot wounds. She is on a ventilator after surgery.
- 15-year-old boy in critical condition with a gunshot wound to the head.
- 15-year-old boy in stable condition with a gunshot wound to the left leg.
- 17-year-old boy who is in stable condition with a gunshot wound to the neck.
- 17-year-old boy with gunshot wound to his hip.
- 17-year-old girl in critical condition with a gunshot wound to her chest.
- 47-year-old teacher who has been discharged from the hospital with a grazing wound to their shoulder.
The victims were transported to several different hospitals in the area including McLaren Lapeer, McLaren Oakland and St. Joe’s in Pontiac.
Read: What we know about the victims of the Oxford High School shooting
How the school district is responding
All Oxford Community Schools are closed for the rest of the week.
The district’s crisis team is working to implement a response plan to support those in the school community. Officials said more details on the response will be sent as they become available.
Helpline volunteers from Common Ground have made a 24/7 resource and crisis helpline available to those impacted by the shooting. The number to call or text is 1-800-231-1127.
The school released documents from the National Association of School Psychologists with advice for talking to children about violence. One of those documents is available below:
The Michigan Department of Education also responded to the news of the shooting by releasing a statement.
State Superintendent Dr. Michael Rice and State Board of Education President Dr. Casandra Ulbrich shared their concern and offered condolences to the families impacted by the shooting.
Michael Rice said the shooting brings attention to the need to focus on mental health needs during devastating times.
You can watch every press briefing from Nov. 30 below
The first press briefing took place just after 3 p.m. on Tuesday.
At the time, officials believed three students had been killed and only six had been injured. It was later announced that three students had been killed and eight other people had been shot -- one of those other people is a teacher.
“It’s a very tragic situation, obviously,” Oakland County Undersheriff Mike McCabe said. “Deputies responded. They knew where to go. We’ve had assistance from other police agencies nearby.”
McCabe was the first of four people who spoke at the press conference. Superintendent Tim Throne spoke next. John Lyman, a public information officer with the Rochester Hills Fire Department spoke third. Tim Waters, a special agent in charge with the FBI, also spoke.
You can watch the first press briefing below:
The second press briefing took place just after 5 p.m.
Oakland County Undersheriff Mike McCabe was joined by Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer.
McCabe released the ages of the three deceased students, but did not release their identities at that time. The victims are a 14-year-old girl, 16-year-old boy and a 17-year-old girl. Eight other people were shot and transported to three different hospitals in the area.
At the time, two people were in surgery and the other six were listed as in “stable condition with various gunshot wounds.”
“I appreciate the quick response of all of our first responders,” Whitmer said. “My heart goes out to the families. This is an unimaginable tragedy. I hope that we can all rise to the occasion and wrap our arms around the families, the affected children and school personnel and this community. It is an unimaginable tragedy and just ... I just wanted to be here because I think this is an important moment for us to support one another, to support this community and I want to thank our first responders again.”
McCabe said all the parents and relatives of the victims had been notified and a deputy had been assigned to every family. He did not release the names of the victims at that time. He also addressed questions from earlier in the day about a deer head incident being connected to the shooting -- he made it clear that the deer head incident involved a different student.
Anyone with information is asked to call the dispatch center at 248-858-4911.
Read: Emotional Gov. Whitmer on Oxford High School shooting: ‘This is an unimaginable tragedy’
You can watch the second press briefing below:
The third press briefing started Tuesday just after 10 p.m.
It’s unclear when the next update will be provided.