REVEALED: Oxford High School counselors allowed Ethan Crumbley to stay in class on the day of shooting after he claimed graphic drawing of blood and bullets was part of his plan to make a VIDEO GAME
In a tragically botched response to warning signs from Michigan school shooter Ethan Crumbley, school counselors accepted his claim that a graphic drawing was a plan for a video game just hours before his gun rampage, it has been revealed.
In a written statement released Saturday, Oxford Community Schools Superintendent Tim Throne for the first time detailed the school's response to Crumbley's behavior.
At the first meeting of two meetings with a counselor and a staff member the week of the shooting, Crumbley said shooting sports were a hobby for his family, Throne said.
That meeting on Monday, the day before the shooting, had been called after a teacher spotted Crumbley searching for gun ammunition on his cell phone.
In a tragically botched response to warning signs from Michigan school shooter Ethan Crumbley (above at arraignment), school counselors accepted his claim that a graphic drawing was a plan for a video game just hours before his gun rampage
On the morning of Tuesday's shooting, during the second meeting with guidance counselors, Crumbley claimed his graphic drawings were part of a video game design and said he wanted to pursue a career in that field, the letter said.
According to guidance counselors, Crumbley was calm and worked on homework while staff tried to reach his parents and they traveled to the school to sit in on the meeting.
Counselors questioned Crumbley on the chilling note found on his desk that featured disturbing drawings depicting a gun, a bullet, blood, a shooting victim and a laughing emoji.
The note included the words: 'Thoughts won't stop, help me'; 'my life is useless' and 'the world is dead,' according to prosecutors.
Parents Jennifer and James Crumbley were immediately summoned to the school, but failed to ask if their son had the gun they had bought him, and left the school without Ethan, prosecutors said.
The parents also did not notify counselors that they had purchased a gun for their son recently during that meeting, Thorne said.
On the morning of Tuesday's shooting, during the second meeting with guidance counselors, Crumbley claimed his graphic drawings were part of a video game design
Parents Jennifer and James Crumbley were called into the meeting about the graphic drawing, but did not notify counselors that they had just purchased a gun for their son, Thorne said.
'Given the fact that the child had no prior disciplinary infractions, the decision was made he would be returned to the classroom rather than sent home to an empty house,' the superintendent said.
The Crumbleys failed to ask their son about the gun or check his backpack and 'resisted the idea of their son leaving the school at that time,' prosecutors said.
Instead, the teen returned to class and the shooting subsequently occurred.
Thorne said that Oxford Community Schools will hire a third-party investigator to review school officials' actions leading up to the shooting.
'Our community and our families deserve a full, transparent accounting of what occurred,' Throne wrote. 'We also plan to make regular updates to our families and community.'
The superintendent also praised the quick actions of educators and students, who quickly barricaded themselves into classrooms and other hiding spots as gunfire erupted in a busy hallway while students changed classes.
'The suspect was not able to gain access to a single classroom,' he wrote.
Despite this, four students were killed in the shooting spree: Tate Myre, 16, Hana St Juliana, 14, Madisyn Baldwin, 17, and Justin Shilling, 17.
Justin Shilling, 17, (left) died in the hospital on Wednesday morning and Tate Myre (right) died in the school on Tuesday
Madisyn Baldwin, 17, (left) and Hana St Juliana, 14, (right) died in Tuesday's shooting rampage at Oxford High School in suburban Detroit
Parents have repeatedly questioned whether the district did enough to address threats leading up to the shooting, following reports that many students were afraid to go to school due to rumors of an imminent shooting.
Throne wrote that the district is reviewing 'any and all communications' the district may have received before the shooting.
However, he added, previous incidents at the school -- including a severed deer head thrown from the roof weeks earlier -- 'are unrelated to the events of Nov. 30.'
Ethan Crumbley is being held without bond after being charged as an adult with murder, attempted murder and terrorism, among other crimes.
Jennifer and James Crumbley are being held in lieu of a $500,000 cash bond each on charges of involuntary manslaughter for alleged negligence in failing to prevent the shooting.
All three Crumbleys are being held in isolation under suicide watch at the Oakland County Jail. They have pleaded not guilty.
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