Parents Now Charged in Michigan School Shooting Are 'Missing' Hours Before Arraignment

Crumbley's parents disappeared before their arraignment Friday afternoon, according to CNN. Sheriff Michael Bouchard said officers are partnering with the FBI and the US Marshal Service to track them down. “If they think they are going to get away, they are not,” he told CNN's Victor Blackwell.

The Crumbleys are no longer in touch with their lawyer, Bouchard said, and cautioned that “anything is possible,” so peple should not approach the couple but alert authorities instead.

According to many legal experts, the filing Friday morning certainly sends a message to the public.

"What the prosecutor is saying is, let's look at the parents' responsibility," said CNN senior legal analyst Elie Honig, who added that the charges indicate the parents were criminally negligent and that their actions leading up to the incident allowed a very dangerous situation to unfold.

Despite the many school shootings that have rocked the US over the past 20 years, no parents have ever been charged in the crimes their child has been accused of committing.

But then again, the circumstances leading up to Tuesday's shooting are also a bit different than most stories we hear.

BREAKING: The parents of Michigan school shooting suspect Ethan Crumbley have been charged with involuntary manslaughter in the aftermath of the horrific Nov. 30 attack that left four teens dead and seven people injured, including a teacher https://t.co/k4YqAArMhA

— The Daily Beast (@thedailybeast) December 3, 2021

The Michigan father didn't buy the 9mm Sig Sauer for himself. Instead, he purchased it during a Black Friday sale — and gave it to his 15-year-old son as an early Christmas present.

Prosecutor Karen McDonald said social media posts showed 15-year-old Ethan Crumbley received a weapon from his parents as a ‘Christmas present‘ pic.twitter.com/Rrxc7hCuPs

— NowThis (@nowthisnews) December 3, 2021

Over Thanksgiving weekend, they even took the boy practice shooting with his new pistol, according to an Instagram post by Jennifer Crumbley.

"Mom & son day testing out his new Xmas present," she captioned the post, which was a close-up photo of the handgun.

McDonald detailed a "litany of missed opportunities" by the Crumbleys during a press conference Friday — all of which she believes could have prevented the shooting, according to The New York Times.

The signs allegedly began November 29 when a teacher spotted Ethan Crumbley searching online for ammunition during class. School officials were notified and a meeting quickly followed. His parents were informed of the incident, but McDonald accused them of shrugging it off.

Crumbley's mom seemed to have a pretty good idea that Ethan Crumbley was considering a school shooting. pic.twitter.com/IeLvsHqDLS

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) December 3, 2021

In fact, a text message exhange discovered by investigators suggests that Jennifer Crumbley was even somewhat amused by the whole thing.

"LOL, I’m not mad at you," she reportedly texted her son. "You have to learn not to get caught."

According to McDonald, Ethan Crumbley had scribbled a chilling image on the page, featuring a handgun and a person who had just been shot.

Alongside it were the words "Blood everywhere," and "The thoughts won’t stop. Help me."

Whether or not they agreed to do so remains unclear, but officials say that neither parent wanted to remove Ethan Crumbley from school that day, even after the incident.

Instead, he was allowed to return to class — and just hours later, he began his deadly rampage.

It's likely he was even carrying the murder weapon on him during the meeting he had with school officials.

Following his arrest, investigators also found a journal and cell phone inside his backpack that contained written notes and video footage clearly indicating the attack was premeditated.

Oakland County prosecutor Karen McDonald said evidence shows Ethan Crumbley started planning the attack “well before the incident": “This isn’t even a close call. This was absolutely premeditated.” https://t.co/YCTFE825RA

— The Daily Beast (@thedailybeast) December 1, 2021

Authorities say that the teen likely smuggled the handgun into school that morning without raising any eyebrows, because Oxford High School doesn't have metal detectors on campus and Ethan was seen carrying a backpack throughout the day. McDonald also said that Ethan Crumbley's parents had been storing the new handgun unlocked in a bedroom drawer, which would have made it easy for him to access.

In it, Ethan Crumbley is seen entering a bathroom with his backpack on just moments before the attack began. When he exits, around 12:50 p.m., he's suddenly holding the 9mm pistol in his hand — and begins to shoot.

"What's depicted on that video, honestly, judge, I don't have the words to describe how horrific that was," Assistant Prosecutor Marc Keast told a judge Wednesday.

"This was not just an impulsive act," added McDonald at the time. "I am absolutely sure after reviewing the evidence that it isn't even a close call. It was absolutely premeditated."

Oakland County Police arrived at the school just minutes later and were met with a bloody scene.

During his rampage, Ethan Crumbley is said to have shot multiple students at close-range, striking them mostly in the head, neck, and shoulders as he moved through hallways and tried to enter classrooms.

"We grabbed calculators, we grabbed scissors just in case the shooter got in and we had to attack them," Oxford senior Aiden Page said during an interview with CNN's Anderson Cooper on Tuesday. "Some were crying, some were trying to support others. Others were trying to come up with ideas just in case."

Some said they sat "shaking" in fear while waiting for officers to arrive. Others jumped out of windows in a frantic effort to get to safety.

The 15-year-old was taken into custody less than 15 minutes after the attack began, but by then, he had already managed to shoot multiple classmates and one teacher. In the end, four students died and six others were seriously wounded.

On Wednesday, the teen was charged with terrorism, four counts of first-degree murder, and a slew of other charges for the attack. Because of the serious nature of his crimes, prosecutors decided to charge him as an adult, and he is being held without bond.

Though the charges against Ethan Crumbley's parents might come as a surprise to some, McDonald did hint at this possibility Wednesday. After filing charges against the suspect, McDonald shared that prosecutors were also considering charges against the Crumbleys and told the press that a decision would likely be made "soon."

"They shouldn't have it both ways," tweeted one person in response to the news. "How can they charge the kid as an adult, then charge the parents because their kid committed a crime? Charge both, but the kid should NOT be tried as an adult. Just MHO."

"The kid did something that he is old enough to reasonably understand what he did wrong," someone else countered. "It’s the parents negligence that lead to the tragedy. Both of these can be true. Thus, the trial of adult for the suspect, and subsequent charges on the parents."

Others argued that school administrators could have done more too.

"Based on the information just released by prosecuter, the building administration blew it," tweeted one person. "The killer was carrying [a] backpack and no one searched it, that's where gun was."

And, if so, could this help prevent more deadly killings?

"This is groundbreaking," tweeted one person. "The school shooting era in America has just taken a radical turn."

"Good!" added another person. "If we can't have better gun control laws start charging people who allow their weapons to get into kids hands."

"Charging the negligent gun owners who don't properly secure their weapons should happen much more often," tweeted someone else.

(To this point, others argued that Michigan doesn't actually have any state laws requiring gun owners to lock their weapons so kids can't reach them.)

And if that sets a precedent, then so be it.

"Four kids were murdered and seven more injured," she said at the press conference on Friday. "So yes, I think we should all be very angry and we should take a very hard look at what is in place in terms of criminal responsibility and what gun owners are required to do."