A “ruthless” teenager with a “blood-curdling” determination. Ethan Crumbley, the 15-year-old student accused of causing death on Tuesday at his high school in the northern United States, killing four and injuring seven, was charged on Wednesday with “murders” and “act of terrorism “. “He was shooting at people at point-blank range, often aiming for the head or chest,” said Michael Bouchard, the sheriff in charge of investigating this new firearms tragedy in the United States.
The death toll, which worsened on Wednesday, stands at four dead and seven wounded by gunshots, almost all between the ages of 14 and 17. Ethan Crumbley, arrested on the spot, might spend the rest of his days in prison, because he is being prosecuted as if he was an adult, announced local prosecutor Karen McDonald. She referred to a “mountain of evidence online, on video or on social media” showing that it was not “just an impulsive act” but a “totally premeditated” act. Police recovered from his mobile phone a video recorded on Monday, in which he announced his intention to shoot students the next day, a plan he had also recorded in a diary found in his backpack.
“Come to kill people”
His motives remain a mystery as he has not explained himself since his arrest and chose to remain silent during his appearance. He pleaded not guilty by the voice of his lawyer.
The shooting, perpetrated in an Oxford school, deeply shocked this small town in the state of Michigan, north of the metropolis of Detroit. Many high school students participated Tuesday evening in a vigil of meditation.
The shooter, carrying a 9 mm caliber Sig Sauer semi-automatic pistol, bought four days earlier by his father, opened fire shortly before 1:00 p.m. local time, progressing methodically through the school and shooting in particular at the doors of the classes where his the students were barricaded. He fired at least 30 bullets.
“He clearly came to kill people,” Sheriff Bouchard summed up on CNN. The teenagers who died are two girls aged 14 and 17 and two boys aged 16 and 17. Three young victims remained hospitalized on Wednesday, including a 14-year-old girl in critical condition. Three other students and a 47-year-old teacher were able to return home. Sheriff Bouchard said Wednesday that the shooter had fired at random, without choosing previously identified victims.
Possible lawsuits once morest parents
Authorities plan to prosecute the shooter’s parents for giving him access to the weapon, Karen McDonald said. In addition to the gun used in the attack, purchased on Friday during major Black Friday promotions, guns were seized from the family home.
Ethan Crumbley trained with the gun beforehand, posting photos of the weapon and the targets he aimed at on social media. He would have brought the gun unmolested. Oxford High School does not have a metal detector portal, as we often see in the United States.
The sheriff denied that his services were aware of any threats once morest the school and the school had not received a report that the student had been the victim of harassment.
‘Disturbing behavior’ reported
He has no criminal record but had been summoned two days in a row, Monday and Tuesday, by high school officials for “disturbing behavior”, said Michael Bouchard.
His parents attended the second meeting on Tuesday morning. A few hours later, he came out of the toilets with a gun in hand and paced the halls, while terrified students hid in the classrooms.
“We know that he tried to enter the rooms, that he fired on the doors of several of them,” explained Sheriff Bouchard. Placed in detention in a center for juvenile delinquents, Ethan Crumbley is the subject of particularly strict surveillance, the authorities fearing that he is taking his life.
