Oakland County Prosecuting Attorney Karen McDonald revealed that the 15-year-old Oxford High School student accused of killing four students and injuring seven others on Tuesday had been caught by a teacher searching on his phone for ammunition prior to the attack.
McDonald shared the new information on Friday during a press conference that also announced that charges have been filed against the parents of the suspected shooter.
Both parents have been charged with four counts of involuntary manslaughter.
The suspect’s parent bought him a handgun for Christmas. When a teacher reported him for googling ammo, his mother texted, “LOL. I'm not mad. You have to learn not to get caught.” And they didn’t remove his gun despite violent drawings begging for help. pic.twitter.com/habKhAIKL6
— Shannon Watts (@shannonrwatts) December 3, 2021
In addition to the charges, McDonald stated the student had been found searching for ammunition on his cell phone on November 21 during class.
“On November 21st, 2021, a teacher at the Oxford High School observed [the suspect] searching ammunition on his cell phone during class and reported the same to school officials. [The student’s mother] was contacted via voicemail by school personnel regarding the son’s inappropriate internet search,” McDonald said during the press conference.
“School personnel indicate they followed that voicemail with an email, but received no response from either parent,” she added.
Further, McDonald shared that a text message between the student and his mother included at least one message about the incident.
“Thereafter, [the mother] exchanged text messages about the incident with her son on that day, stating, ‘Lol, I’m not mad at you, you have to learn not to get caught,” McDonald said.
During the press conference, McDonald also stated the student was found composing a graphic drawing on the same day as the shooting.
“On November 30, 2021, the morning of the shooting, the next day, [the student’s] teacher came upon a note on [the student’s] desk which alarmed her to the point that she took a picture of it on her cell phone. The note contained the following: a drawing of a semi-automatic handgun pointing at the words, quote, ‘The thoughts won’t stop. Help me,’ end quote.
“In another section of the note was a drawing of a bullet with the following words above that bullet, quote, ‘Blood everywhere,’ end quote. Between the drawing of the gun and the bullet is a drawing of a person who appears to have been shot twice and bleeding. Below that figure is a drawing of a laughing emoji. Further down the drawing are the words, quote, ‘My life is useless,’ end quote, and to the right of that are the words, quote, ‘The world is dead,’ end quote.
As a result, [parent’s names] were immediately summoned to the school. A school counselor came to the classroom and removed the shooter and brought him to the office with his backpack.”
McDonald reported the parents did not want to take their son home at the time, and he was allowed to return to the classroom. The shooting happened later that day.
The mother texted her soon twice after the report of an active shooter at the school. The first message said, “I’m sorry.” The second message reported stated the student’s name, along with the words, “Don’t do it.”