A school shooting occurred at Oxford High School on November 30 left four students dead. Ethan Crumbly, a 15-year-old teen suspect charged in connection with the deadly shooting.  

“It is tragic that stuff like this happens, it is crazy to think about how a 15-year-old is capable of doing something so terrible. When I see how these school shootings happen, it makes me scared to even attend school. I hope Oxford High School can recover from this tragic event,” Senior Melvin Alba stated.  

As classes resumed after Thanksgiving break, a teacher noticed Ethan Crumbley searching the web for ammunition. The teacher notified school officials, who contacted the parents via phone and email, but they did not respond. Later on, Jennifer Crumbley sent Ethan a text message saying, “LOL I’m not mad at you. You have to learn not to get caught.” Crumbley’s parents were also charged in connection with the shooting. James and Jennifer Crumbley each face four counts of involuntary manslaughter and have pleaded not guilty. 

“When there is suspicious activity like searching for ammo, school officials should take it more seriously. Instead of just contacting Crumbley’s parents and waiting for a response, they should have got the authority involved. The parents are just as guilty for letting their kid do these kinds of things. If schools have more precautions in tragic situations like this, they can be avoiding school shootings,” Alba stated.  

On Tuesday morning, the day of the shooting, another teacher found a drawing on Crumbley’s desk which essentially depicted a shooting. The illustration showed a semiautomatic handgun pointing at the words “the thoughts won’t stop help me” and it included a drawing of a bullet with the words “blood everywhere” written above it. The words “my life is useless” and “the world is dead” were also written in the drawing. 

“It is unbelievable that the kid showed clear signs or distress and anger, and nothing was done but I simple call to his parents. Crumbley should have been removed from the school and given help from professionals,” Senior Christian Hernandez stated. 

Just before 12:51 p.m. the day of the shooting, Crumbley could be seen with a backpack, then a minute or two later, he exited a bathroom without the backpack but with a gun in hand. Crumbley then walked the hallways and aimed a gun at students and fired the weapon. When students began to run away, Crumbley continued to go down the hallway and shoot inside classrooms and at students who had not escaped. Crumbley killed Madisyn Baldwin, 17; Tate Myre, 16; Hana St. Juliana, 14; and Justin Shilling, 17.  

“This was a terrible event and I have all the families that were affected in my prayers. It is so sad to hear of these things, I wish Crumbly could have been given help for this never occurred. I also hope schools can learn new ways to help students so this never happens again,” Hernandez stated.