OXFORD, Mich. – Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel said she is disappointed that Oxford Community Schools turned down her offer to investigate the high school shooting. Instead, the school will use an outside firm to investigate what happened.
Read: Michigan AG Nessel ‘disappointed’ Oxford school district turned down offer
“Refocusing a little bit of attention on the shooter, his parents, and also the fact that a 15-year-old had such easy access to a gun,” Nessel said.
Nessel said she wants to find out what happened at Oxford High School on Nov. 30, the day of the shooting.
“This is not about pointing fingers. It’s not about blaming educators. It’s not blaming the school district. It’s just about finding out what happened here,” Nessel said.
How did it happen and could it have been prevented?
“Moving forward we can ensure that we have best practices and best policies to address these types of concerns to ensure that this never happens again any place else, in any school in the state of Michigan,” Nessel said.
Nessel recently told leaders of Oxford Community Schools that her office could do an independent investigation into the shooting, but the district declined her offer. The district said it will hire its own firm.
Many are doubting results from an independent investigation will be made public.
“Candidly, that’s been our experience in the past when we had these situations. But, again, I don’t want to cast any judgment on the Oxford Community Schools right now,” Nessel said.
Nessel said her team will be working with Oakland County Prosecutor Karen McDonald and will be meeting with Oxford High School teachers, students and parents.
“I think what we will do is we will have these meetings and we will discuss all of the issues that are most important to the community and we’ll make an assessment going forward from there,” Nessel said.
Local 4 reached out to Oxford Community Schools regarding its decision but has yet to hear back.