Michigan court rules attorneys of Oxford HS parents haven't proven school responsible for shooting

The Michigan Court of Appeals ruled in favor of the Oxford school district on Thursday in a lawsuit that seeks to hold employees partly responsible for a shooting that killed four students and wounded others in 2021.

The court, in a 3-0 opinion, said lawyers for the families have not offered evidence that shows Oxford staff were the "proximate cause" of the tragedy.

While staff had expressed concerns about the Oxford shooter, and a meeting was held with his parents on the day of the shooting, it was the teenager who "made the definite and premeditated decision" to take a gun to Oxford High School, the appeals court said.

The court affirmed a lower court decision that said governmental immunity applied. Under Michigan law, immunity is a high hurdle to overcome in lawsuits against a public body or staff. Lawyers typically have to show that gross negligence occurred.

The Ven Johnson law firm is representing the parents in the case. Attorney Chris Desmond says the fight isn't over and plans to take it to the Supreme Court.

"We’ve had accountability for the shooter, we’ve had accountability for the shooters, parents. But we’ve never had accountability for the school officials and that’s what we’re looking for in this case," Desmond said.

He claims the state's stance that there is governmental immunity has been wrong since the state's founding and plans to appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.

"Other states have recognized that governmental immunity can deprive individuals of a right to jury trial or vehicle protection. But other states don’t have government immunity nearly in the form that it exists in Michigan," Desmond said.

The shooter, who was 15 at the time, 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.

Before the shooting, the shooter had sketched images of a gun, a bullet and a wounded man on a math paper, accompanied by despondent phrases. The 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.

Information from the Associated Press was used in this report.