Oakland County fugitive squad searching for Ethan Crumbley’s parents
Michigan cops, US Marshals and the FBI were on the hunt Friday for the parents of Ethan Crumbley, the Michigan teen who allegedly killed four people and injured another seven when he shot up Oxford High School earlier this week.
Jennifer and James Crumbley were charged with four counts each of involuntary manslaughter on Friday, a rare move by prosecutors who said the parents failed to secure their guns and didn’t respond to their son’s distressing behavior.
Law enforcement officials later said the parents have gone missing, and are now officially considered fugitives. A reward of up to $10,000 was being offered for information leading to the capture of Jennifer and James each, federal agents announced Friday night, as they released “Wanted” posters of the pair.
Oakland County Prosecutor Karen McDonald, meanwhile, blasted the parents as “irresponsible” for not immediately turning themselves in.
“The Crumbleys are at large because they are continuously irresponsible. They promised to turn themselves in and did not. We have been in constant communication with sheriff’s office investigators, and we are confident that the Crumbleys will be apprehended,” McDonald said, according to Fox 2 Detroit.
“The US Marshals have adopted the case of the search for James and Jennifer Crumbley, the parents of the accused Oxford HS (Mich.) shooter. The USMS Detroit Fugitive Apprehension team is working in conjunction with the Oakland County Sheriff’s Office on the search,” the agency tweeted.
A local sheriff told the Detroit News that the couple’s lawyers said the two had gone AWOL — but the couple’s lawyers told CNN that the Crumbley parents had left town for their safety, and were now headed home.
“Our last conversation with the attorney was that she had been trying to reach them by phone and text, and they were not responding,” Oakland County Undersheriff Mike McCabe said.
That contradicts the recent statement from the attorneys Shannon Smith and Mariell Lehman, who now are saying the “Crumbleys left town on the night of the tragic shooting for their own safety.”
Law enforcement sources told CNN that the parents took out $4,000 from an ATM on Friday in Rochester Hills, about 10 to 15 miles from Oxford. They also turned their cellphones off, meaning authorities can’t ping their whereabouts, the source said.
Oakland County Sheriff Michael Bouchard warned the parents that they won’t be able to hide from the cops.
“If they think they are going to get away, they are not,” Bouchard told CNN.
Bouchard said it’s possible the couple is armed, and his team is working with the FBI and the US Marshals to track them down. He admitted to CNN the parents weren’t under surveillance until late last night and couldn’t say when his department last saw the two.
The Crumbleys‘ attorneys also had sharp words for Oakland County prosecutor Karen McDonald.
“On Thursday night we contacted the Oakland County prosecutor to discuss this matter and to advise her that James and Jennifer Crumbley would be turning themselves in to be arraigned. Instead of communicating with us, the prosecutor held a press conference to announce charges,” the lawyers said.
