The parents of the suspected teenage gunman at a Michigan school have been arrested. “The two fugitives were located and arrested. A compliment from the Detroit Police Department,” the Oakland County Sheriff’s Office wrote on Facebook on Saturday.
James and Jennifer C. were discovered on the first floor of a factory building in Detroit, a police spokesman told CNN. The arrest was uneventful, the New York Times quoted Detroit Police Chief James E. White as saying. The police got a tip that the two were hiding in the building.
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According to prosecutor Karen McDonald on Friday, James and Jennifer C. are each charged with four counts of manslaughter. According to CNN, the parents bought the murder weapon, gave their underage son access to the gun and ignored warnings. Charges against the parents of a perpetrator of such an act of violence in schools are very rare, but in this case the facts are “outrageous,” she said.
According to the police, the 15-year-old killed four students on Tuesday with the weapon that his father had acquired just days earlier. He also injured six teenagers and a teacher. The tenth grader is charged with, among other things, terrorism resulting in death and quadruple murder. Regarding the terrorism charges, McDonald said that in Michigan, the prerequisite for this was an act resulting in death against a community of people.
Fatal incidents continue to occur in the United States because school shooters open fire. Gun laws in the United States vary by state, but firearms such as pistols and assault rifles are usually relatively easy to obtain. Stricter gun laws usually fail because of the Republicans in Congress and the powerful gun lobby. (dpa)