OXFORD, Mich. – Prosecutors are emphasizing the fact that James Crumbley never stopped at his Oxford home in the hours leading up to the 2021 high school shooting, despite driving past it several times that day and being armed with potentially concerning information.
Through witness testimony at Crumbley’s trial this week, Oakland County prosecutors zeroed in on what the Oxford shooter’s father did and didn’t do the day of the mass school shooting. The father -- who’s on trial for involuntary manslaughter in connection with the Nov. 30, 2021, shooting -- is accused of failing to take steps that could’ve prevented the massacre, including on the day of the actual shooting.
Prosecutors specifically focused on the fact that Crumbley didn’t stop home to check on the family’s firearms that day, despite concerning circumstances brought to his attention.
Shooter’s violent worksheet drawings
A few hours before the shooting, Crumbley and his wife were called to Oxford High School to meet with their son and a school counselor. During that meeting, the group discussed a now-infamous math worksheet, on which the shooter drew violent images and statements.
The worksheet included drawings of guns, shooting people, and quotes like, “the thoughts won’t stop.” The prosecution previously indicated the gun drawn on the worksheet exactly depicted the 9mm handgun purchased by the shooter’s father a few days prior. Prosecutors claim the gun was purchased directly for the shooter as a gift.
The counselor previously testified that at the meeting, he asked the parents to get the shooter mental health help that day, if possible. The parents said they had to return to work, and did not take their son out of school.
Prosecutors argue that the parents never mentioned the recently-bought gun to school staff, missing a serious opportunity to prevent the shooting. The gun was in the shooter’s backpack during the meeting. The shooter went on to kill four students and injure seven other people a few hours later.
---> From Jennifer Crumbley’s trial: What we learned about Oxford counselor’s meeting with parents, shooter amid mother’s trial
James Crumbley’s DoorDash deliveries
After leaving the school meeting, James Crumbley logged into DoorDash to make some deliveries, a computer crimes expert said in court Thursday and Friday. Crumbley accepted multiple orders as a DoorDash delivery driver between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. on Nov. 30, 2021, after meeting at the school.
The father did not do any DoorDash deliveries before the meeting that day, computer crimes expert Edward Wagrowski testified.
Crumbley completed four DoorDash deliveries between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. on the day of the shooting. Those deliveries took place in Oxford, and were close to Crumbley’s home, officials said.
“He actually drove by his house at least four times from the point he saw the assignment to the point he started DoorDashing?” Assistant Prosecutor Mark Keast asked Friday, March 8. Witness Wagrowski said that was correct.
Keast reiterated that Crumbley “never stopped home” during that time, to which Wagrowski, agreed.
Why does this matter?
Prosecutors are hoping to prove to the jury that James Crumbley had reason to stop home after the meeting with the school counselor, but chose not to. It’s part of their argument that the father failed to act on information he had about his son to prevent the mass shooting.
Prosecutors have long alleged Crumbley was aware of his son’s deteriorating mental health, but didn’t get him any help. The father had also purchased a 9mm handgun a few days before the shooting, and had taken his son to the shooting range to use other firearms in the months prior.
Parents of Oxford High School students were alerted to an emergency situation at around 1:09 p.m. on Nov. 30, 2021, after the shooting had already occurred. James Crumbley drove to the family reunification area at a nearby Meijer store, stayed there for seven minutes, and then drove home, according to testimony.
While at home, James Crumbley called 911 and told dispatchers that he heard there was a shooting, he noticed the 9mm handgun was missing from his house, and he didn’t know if his son took the gun or not. James Crumbley said he was freaking out. Prosecutors argue the father suspected his son was the school shooter, even before the shooter’s name was released to the public.
In his opening statement, Assistant Prosecutor Keast said the school shooting was “preventable and foreseeable” by James Crumbley.
“You will learn throughout this trial that [James Crumbley] was the adult, out of anyone in the world, in the best position to prevent these kids’ deaths,” Keast said. “James Crumbley was afforded what might have been the easiest, the most glaring opportunity to prevent the shooting -- a full three-and-a-half hours on Nov. 30, before the first shot was ever fired.”