PONTIAC, Mich. (AP) 鈥 Prosecutors on Thursday played a recording of a desperate 911 call by the father of a Michigan school shooter as they tried to show jurors how he quickly determined that the teen might be the killer.
鈥淚 have a missing gun at my house. ... I raced home just to like find out, and I think my son took the gun,鈥 James Crumbley said frantically, soon after a fruitless search of the house for the gun and ammunition.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 know if it鈥檚 him. I don鈥檛 know what鈥檚 going on. I am really freaking out. My son鈥檚 name is Ethan Crumbley,鈥 the father said.
It was the last piece of evidence presented on the first day of James Crumbley's involuntary manslaughter trial in suburban Detroit. He isn't accused of knowing that 15-year-old Ethan planned to shoot up Oxford High School, but prosecutors allege that his gross negligence was a cause of the tragedy.
Four students were killed and seven people were wounded on Nov. 30, 2021. The shooter's mother, Jennifer Crumbley, of the same involuntary manslaughter charges last month.
The Crumbleys are the with having criminal responsibility for a mass school shooting committed by a child.
鈥淭his case isn鈥檛 about bad parenting 鈥 it鈥檚 not illegal to be a bad parent. It鈥檚 not kids doing kid things,鈥 assistant prosecutor Marc Keast told jurors. 鈥淲e鈥檙e talking about preventable mass murder.鈥
Keast emphasized a series of key points during his opening statement. He noted that James Crumbley, accompanied by his son, bought a Sig Sauer 9 mm handgun four days before the shooting.
The father never told school staff about the purchase 鈥 or a trip to a shooting range that same weekend 鈥 when he and his wife were summoned to discuss a disturbing drawing on Ethan鈥檚 math assignment on the day of the shooting.
There was a gun on the paper that looked similar to the Sig Sauer, blood drops and a bullet, accompanied by the phrases: 鈥淭he thoughts won鈥檛 stop. Help me.鈥
鈥淓mergency,鈥 Jennifer Crumbley messaged her husband before the meeting.
鈥淢y god,鈥 he responded when he saw the drawing.
But the Crumbleys didn鈥檛 take Ethan home, and the school, concerned that he might be suicidal, didn鈥檛 demand it. No one checked the boy鈥檚 backpack for a gun, however, and the nine-minute shooting happened that afternoon.
Evidence from James Crumbley's wireless phone showed he made DoorDash deliveries after the meeting, investigator Ed Wagrowski testified. Crumbley didn't search his home until after learning about the shooting.
James Crumbley missed an 鈥渋ncredible opportunity鈥 to save lives that day, Keast said.
He displayed a picture of a gun lock, still in a package, for the jury.
鈥淚t was never used,鈥 the prosecutor said.
鈥淭his nightmare 鈥 these murders 鈥 were preventable by him, foreseeable by him,鈥 Keast said.
But defense attorney Mariell Lehman said James Crumbley was being portrayed in the wrong way.
鈥淛ames Crumbley was not aware that his son had access to that firearm,鈥 she told jurors. 鈥淵ou will hear testimony that access was not allowed in James Crumbley's mind. You will not hear that James Crumbley even suspected that his son was a danger.鈥
Prosecutors also allege that the Crumbleys ignored their son鈥檚 pleas for help for mental distress. Ethan told a friend that James Crumbley鈥檚 response was to tell the boy to 鈥渟uck it up,鈥 according to text messages introduced by Wagrowski.
鈥淚 am mentally and physically dying,鈥 Ethan told the friend in April 2021.
Before the day began, Judge Cheryl Matthews made rulings that could benefit James Crumbley. She said prosecutors can鈥檛 use text messages between son and mother that suggested he was having hallucinations about demons months before the shooting.
The messages were used as evidence at Jennifer Crumbley鈥檚 trial.
The first witness at James Crumbley's trial Thursday was Molly Darnell, a faculty member who was shot by a bullet that pierced her office door. Darnell, one of seven people wounded that day, stood, removed a jacket and showed jurors the spot on her upper left arm.
Darnell said that while she hid behind a cabinet, she texted her husband without telling him she had been shot.
鈥淚 love you,鈥 she wrote. 鈥淎ctive shooter.鈥
Ethan, now 17, is for murder and terrorism.
Jennifer Crumbley, 45, is scheduled to return to court for her sentence on April 9. Her minimum prison term could be as high as 10 years.
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