James Crumbley trial: Oxford asst. principal recalls yelling 'It's not a f-cking drill!' during shooting

FOX 2 (WJBK) - The assistant principal at Oxford High School took the stand Friday with chilling details from the 2021 mass shooting on day two of the James Crumbley trial.

Kristy Gibson-Marshall detailed the chaotic moments she came face-to-face with the shooter, then discovered one of the eventual victims, Tate Myre, wounded in the hallway.

James Crumbley is charged with four counts of involuntary manslaughter, one count for each student killed by his son at Oxford High School on Nov. 30, 2021. 

His son admitted that he gave James the money to buy the gun that was used to kill four people and injure seven others.  His son pleaded guilty to all charges and is in prison.

Gibson-Marshall had just come across Myre's body, when the shooter approached nearby - and she spoke to him.

"The shooter was coming closer to me. I think after a close I realized it was (the shooter) and it didn't seem right to me because even always seemed like a sweet kid," she said. "I just couldn't picture that being him. So I talked to him. As he walked by I asked him if he was okay, what was going on?"

She then took a few steps down the hallway with the shooter and then noticed he had a gun in his hand.

"He looked away from me," Gibson-Marshall said. "I knew for sure at that point he was the shooter, because he would have tried to talk to me. Typically he would have said something to me, he would have talked to me.

"He kept walking. I walked with him for just a couple of steps ... and then I turned my back on him. I know this is ridiculous that I did by turn my back on him because I had a student that I needed to check on."

The testimony echoed moments from Edward Wagrowski Thursday, a former Oakland County Sheriff's detective who watched the school security video in the moments after the shooter had been arrested.

"An assistant principal was standing there next to Tate and the shooter just walks past or with a gun in his hand, and she said something to him," he said. "You could tell, like he turned his head, he almost didn't even look at her. Or (he) turned his head like in shame, I don't know. Then he keeps on walking down the hallway to the bathroom."

More coverage:

• James Crumbley trial recap - Day 1 of testimony
• James Crumbley trial recap - Day 2 of testimony
• Jennifer Crumbley trial

From that point, Gibson-Marshall recalls trying to tend to Myre who had been wounded in the head, including doing rescue breaths until first responders at the scene, took over.

Kim Potts a retired Oakland County Sherif's deputy and school staffer, then approached the assistant principal.

"Kim Potts came up to me and told me it was a drill and heard me - you guys I'm so sorry, my students are going to hear this and it is horrible - I told her 'It's not a f-cking drill,' that someone had been shot," Marshall said. "And she and she kind of grabbed her gun and ... she was a retired police officer and worked in our lunchroom.

"So I just said he went that way, and I just kept waving my arm."

Marshall reviewed the security footage shown in the courtroom adding additional commentary before being dismissed. There were no questions from the defense team.

A jury found James' wife, Jennifer Crumbley, guilty of the same charges in early February. She will be sentenced on April 9.