Mother of School Shooter Found Guilty of Manslaughter

The mother of a student who killed four people in a 2021 mass shooting has been found guilty of four counts of manslaughter. The mother, Jennifer Crumbley, bought a gun for her 15-year-old son four days before he used it in the attack. The landmark ruling sets a new precedent for who can be held responsible for these types of attacks.

The Background

Jennifer Crumbly’s son (who I’m going to call “Bob” in this post because I don’t believe the media should print the names of these types of terrorists) killed four students at his Oxford High School in Oxford, Michigan in 2021. His parents, James and Jennifer Crumbley, bought him the gun he used in the shooting (a semi-auto handgun) four days before the attack.

Bob was only 15 at the time, so James had to legally purchase the gun. Bob was with his father at the time he bought the gun. Jennier posted a picture of the gun on social media saying that it was Bob’s “early Christmas present. If you’re familiar with firearms, this means that Bob’’s father bought the gun as a straw purchase and lied on his 4473. Jennifer also bought him the ammo he used in the shooting: 9mm hollow points.

History of Behavior

The Crumbleys’ son had shown signs that he was disturbed for years before the shooting. He would send messages to his mother saying about his declining mental state, allegedly tortured small animals, and drew pictures of himself committing school shootings. He also kept a baby bird’s head in a jar and left it in his school bathroom. His parents never sought any help for him after any of this happened.

Bob had met with school administrators in the days before the shooting. When a teacher caught Bob looking at ammo on his phone, they sent him to the principal’s office.

Bob said that shooting was a “family hobby,” at which point, administrators called his family. Jennifer didn’t pick up the phone, but later texted Bob, saying “LOL, I’m not mad at you. You have to learn to not get caught.”

The day of the shooting, Bob was again called into the principal’s office. This time, it was because he’d drawn a picture of a gun on a note with the words “the thoughts won’t stop. Help me.”

School administrators called his parents in to meet with them. They told his parents that if they didn’t get Bob counseling in 48 hours, they’d call Child Protective Services. They also said that they wanted to send Bob home for the day. The Crumbleys scoffed at the idea, and the administrators backed down (which also sort of makes them responsible if you ask me).

Later that day, Bob went on his shooting spree. During the attack, Jennifer texted him “don’t do it.”

A Sig semi-auto pistol, similar to the one used by Bob in his shooting.

What This Means

I wanted to cover the events that happened on the day of the shooting to show how royally the Crumbleys messed up. If they hadn’t been complete morons and incompetent parents, four kids would still be alive. That makes them the perfect “bad guys” for this case.

This isn’t the first time that the state has tried to hold a parent responsible for their child committing a mass shooting. However, in all previous cases, parents have been charged with comparatively minor crimes, like child neglect or failure to properly store a firearm.

The Crumbley case marks the first time that the state has actually charged a parent with the deaths resulting from a mass shooting. The jury convicted Mrs. Crumbley of the crime even though her son said during his own trial that “[his parents] did not know … what I planned to do, so they are not at fault for what I’ve done.”

Final Thoughts

This case was pretty much a slam-dunk for the prosecution. That’s not for any reasons of law, but because both Crumbley parents are particularly irresponsible and extremely unlikeable. Both of the Crumbleys have acted uncooperatively with law enforcement. They even tried to flee from their homes to evade capture, and were arrested in a Detroit-area warehouse.

After their arrest, they’ve turned on each other, taking no responsibility themselves while simultaneously trying to frame the other as the real villain in the case. They also had a history of neglecting their son. Years before the assault, one neighbor filed a report with Child Protective Services stating that the Crumbleys left their young son at home alone while they could get drunk at a local bar.

I’m not throwing shade at anyone who wants to knock back a few drinks now and again. But if you’re going to do it and have a child, at least call a babysitter.

As a result, the case has all of the intangible aspects it needs to sway people who aren’t particularly pro- or anti-gun to the prosecution’s side.

While this is the first time we’ve seen parents charged directly for the gun violence their children caused, I doubt it will be the first.

This case should be a wakeup call to all gun owners. Keep all your guns locked in some kind of container. Because if they’re stolen and used in a crime, it’s going to come back to haunt you.