James Crumbley Trial: Oxford High School teacher testifies shooter was 'aiming to kill' her
James Crumbley trial: Teacher Molly Darnell takes the stand
In tearful testimony, Molly Darnell, an educator who was shot at Oxford High School in November 2021, recalled hearing a "pop, pop, pop" and seeing kids run down the hallway before the shooter appeared in her peripheral vision and shot her left arm.
PONTIAC, Mich. (FOX 2) - A teacher who was shot at Oxford High School recalled the moment she encountered the shooter during emotional testimony given at James Crumbley's trial.
Molly Darnell came face-to-face with James's son, the Oxford High School shooter, on Nov. 30, 2021. James is now facing involuntary manslaughter charges stemming from the deadly school shooting after prosecutors say he bought his son the firearm used just days before.
Four people were killed. Darnell is one of seven victims who survived, though she said she believes the shooter was trying to kill her, too.
The door of Molly Darnell's room after the Oxford High School shooting
During her testimony Thursday, Darnell described seeing and hearing students rush past her room as the shooting began.
"There was a hyper-ness to the voices," she said. "I had never seen a group of students move like that before."
Darnell said that she thought that students were maybe moving toward a fight, so she went out to the hall to see what was happening.
"It was silent. There was no noise," she said.
James Crumbley Trial: Opening statements to be delivered this morning in Oxford school shooting case
James Crumbley's trial will begin with opening statements Thursday morning after a jury was seated Wednesday. He faces four counts of involuntary manslaughter stemming from the Oxford High School shooting.
She went back into her room, where moments later she heard an announcement that the school was going into lockdown, along with a series of pops and doors slamming. She didn't know it at the time, but the pops were gunshots.
When back inside her room, she went to barricade the door. This is when she encountered the shooter, a student she didn't know, and locked eyes with him.
"I see some movement coming from the side of him and I realize that he’s raising a gun to me," she said, noting that she jumped out of the way when she realized it wasn't a BB gun.
Darnell was shot in the left arm, but did not realize she was hit initially. After being shot, she went into her room and began moving to barricade the door before she hid. While in hiding, she started feeling blood running down her arm and slowly began realizing she had been shot.
Molly Darnell's room after she barricaded the door on Nov. 30, 2021.
"I don’t think I was admitting that I was shot," Darnell testified. "I just knew that if I was bleeding, I had to put a tourniquet on."
Darnell testified that she later would see that the shooter was trying to kill her, noting that he only missed her heart by inches.
"He was aiming to kill me," she testified.
When looking back at photos of her room door, which had been struck by bullets, while on the stand, she testified that it was clear what the shooter was aiming for.
"That’s a shot to the head and two to the chest," Darnell said.
She made a makeshift tourniquet with her cardigan for her injured arm and stayed in hiding while she tried to plan her next move. Eventually, her daughter, who attended school in a neighboring district, texted her about the shooting. Darnell said she also got texts about an active shooter from teachers in another area of the building. She replied, telling the other teachers that she had seen the shooter but did not tell them she was shot.
"I think that there was a part of me that was definitely in denial of what was happening in that moment," she said, adding that she did not feel that she needed emergency medical care. Darnell said that she knew the building needed to be secured to protect others, and resources to do that might be diverted to her if others knew she was hurt.
Molly Darnell being walked out of Oxford High School after she was shot on Nov. 30, 2021
Darnell stayed in hiding for about 20 minutes before she heard footsteps outside and texted a teacher in the room next door that she had been shot. That is when authorities came and pulled her from the room.
Darnell has testified twice before - once during the shooter's sentencing last year and again during Jennifer Crumbley's trial.
Another victim, one of the surviving students who was shot, is expected to testify during James's trial as well.