Oxford school shooting report finds district officials ‘failed to provide safe, secure environment’ for students
The 572-page report, compiled by the firm Guidepost Solutions, said the drawings, conduct and statements made by Oxford shooter Ethan Crumbley should have triggered the school’s threat assessment policies.
A well wisher kneels to pray at a memorial on the sign of Oxford High School in Oxford, Mich., Wednesday, Dec. 1, 2021.
A long-awaited report by independent investigators released Monday evening found that Oxford Community School District officials could have avoided the deadly shooting that claimed the lives of four students two years ago at Oxford High School.
The 572-page report, compiled by the firm Guidepost Solutions, said the drawings, conduct and statements made by Oxford shooter Ethan Crumbley should have triggered the school’s threat assessment policies. That would have let the school principal examine Crumbley’s backpack, which contained the gun he used to kill four classmates.
Instead the report found former school superintendent Tim Throne and two former assistant administrators failed to take the actions that would have elevated the situation to the principal’s attention.
The report also notes that no cabinet-level school administrator would say it was their responsibility to oversee the policies, and that several officials — including the two who met with Crumbley and his parents the day of the shooting — refused to speak to investigators.
The investigative team that helped compile the report will be in Oxford on Thursday to take questions from the community about what they found.
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