An American teenager who last year killed four students at his high school with a gun given to him by his parents, pleaded guilty on Monday and faces life in prison. Ethan Crumbley, 15 at the time, had received the Sig Sauer 9mm caliber pistol as an early Christmas present.
Rarely, his parents, accused of negligence and ignoring the warning signs of his acting out, have been charged with manslaughter and should be tried next year. The teenager had fired dozens of bullets at the facility in Oxford, Michigan, in the north of the country. He killed two girls and two boys between the ages of 14 and 17 and injured several people.
A Sig Sauer and 50 bullets in his backpack
On Monday, wearing the inmates’ orange jumpsuit, goggles and face mask, he said “yes sir” when the judge asked him if it was his choice to plead guilty. Prosecutors then traced the day of the shooting to November 2021. Ethan Crumbley admitted to bringing a Sig Sauer and 50 bullets in his backpack.
He also admitted to entering the boys’ bathroom, pulling out his gun and starting shooting at the high school students. Prior to the shooting, his parents, Jennifer and James Crumbley, had been alerted to worrying signs by teachers and even summoned, but failed to act. The school had notably informed them that their son was looking for ammunition on the internet.
His mum then texted him: “I’m not mad at you. You gotta learn not to get caught.” Shootings, especially in schools, are a scourge in the United States. In May, a teenager killed 19 schoolchildren and two female teachers at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas.