Parents of Michigan school shooting suspect arrested after manhunt
James and Jennifer Crumbley, the parents of the accused Oxford High School shooter who failed to appear at an arraignment on Friday and were declared fugitives, were captured early Saturday morning following a police manhunt that ended in the basement of a Detroit building.
Detroit Police confirmed to CBS Station WWJ that the two had been found, after their abandoned vehicle was spotted on a street in Detroit, about an hour south of Oxford.
The two fugitives were located and arrested by Detroit Police, Oakland County Sheriff’s Office told CBS News, after receiving a 911 call from a business owner who spotted the suspects’ vehicle in his parking lot. The caller observed a female near the car, who fled on foot.
After an extensive search by police, including with Detroit K-9 units, both fugitives were located and arrested. The two will be transported to the Oakland County Jail tonight.
Authorities had been searching for the parents of the teen accused of fatally shooting four people at a Michigan high school after they were charged in connection with the rampage earlier Friday, the U.S. Marshals office said. James and Jennifer Crumbley, each charged with four counts of involuntary manslaughter, had not turned themselves into authorities as of Friday night.
The U.S. Marshals Service released wanted posters for the couple, offering a reward of up to $10,000 for information leading to their capture.
Earlier Friday, an attorney for the couple said they left town the day of the shooting and were returning to be arraigned, but the couple missed their Friday afternoon arraignment. Oakland County Undersheriff Michael McCabe told CBS News that he was contacted by the attorney at about 10:30 p.m. on Friday with assurances that the Crumbleys “were going to turn themselves in” and that the attorney would “text my detective sergeant tomorrow morning at 7 a.m.”
The county prosecutor, Karen McDonald, announced the charges against the couple on Friday, saying they failed to prevent the tragedy and allowed their son to have access to the gun he used in the shooting.
“While the shooter was the one who entered the high school and pulled the trigger, there are other individuals who contributed to the events on November 30 and it’s my intention to hold them accountable as well,” McDonald said at a news conference.
The shooting suspect, 15-year-old Ethan Crumbley, faces 24 charges in Tuesday’s shooting, including four counts of first-degree murder and one count of terrorism causing death. Four people were killed and seven others were wounded in the shooting at Oxford High School.
The teen made his first court appearance on Wednesday and entered a plea of not guilty.
