DETROIT (AP) — The Michigan Supreme Court on Wednesday dismissed the appeals put forth by families of students who were killed or injured during the 2021 Oxford High School shooting, thereby halting attempts to hold school staff partially accountable for the incident.
According to Michigan law, overcoming the barrier of immunity in lawsuits against a government entity, such as public school employees, is challenging. Lawyers are generally required to demonstrate that gross negligence took place.
In a brief two-sentence order, the court declared it would not proceed with the case. This means the earlier 3-0 Court of Appeals ruling in favor of the school staff remains in effect.
“I’m shocked,” said William “Buck” Myre, whose son, Tate, was one of four students who died. “I can’t believe that a tragedy of this nature, our government can just sweep it under the rug and say, ‘Sorry for your loss.’ It was preventable.”
In September, the appeals court said there was no evidence that Oxford staff were the “proximate cause” of the tragedy, noting it was 15-year-old Ethan Crumbley who “made the definite and premeditated decision” to take a gun to school and commit the mass shooting.
On the day of the shooting, he had sketched images of a gun, a bullet and a wounded man on a math paper, accompanied by despondent phrases. His parents were quickly called to a meeting at school but declined to take him home.
No one — parents or staff — checked the boy’s backpack for a gun, though an administrator joked that it was heavy.
Crumbley, now 19, is serving a life prison sentence. His parents, James and Jennifer Crumbley, are each serving 10-year sentences for involuntary manslaughter. Prosecutors said they had ignored his mental health needs, bought him a gun as a gift and then failed to safely secure it.
Chris Desmond, an appellate lawyer for the families, said the Legislature needs to change the high bar of governmental immunity.
“If this event, God forbid, were to happen in a private school … this case would have been resolved by now,” he said.
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