Oxford School Shooting Report: Here's What Investigators Found

OXFORD, MI — A nearly 600-page report on the deadly Oxford school shooting found multiple systematic failures leading up to the attack that left four students dead in November 2021.

Guidepost Solutions, an independent investigations firm based in New York, released the report Monday night. Oxford school officials hired the firm to investigate the events related to the shooting after rejecting an independent investigation by Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel, drawing backlash from some in the community.

The four students killed in the shooting were 14-year-old Hana St. Juliana, 16-year-old Tate Myre, 17-year-old Madisyn Baldwin and 17-year-old Justin Shilling. Seven others were wounded in the shooting.

Although the report found that training and safety protocols actions by district officials did help save lives and keep students safe, there were certain areas where the district failed.

"We believe that the district's senior administration bears the most significant responsibility for the District's failure to implement an appropriate threat assessment and suicide intervention process," investigators said in the report.

The report noted that the high school's principal should have been notified by the shooter's counselor after finding violent drawings in the shooter's classwork. On the day of the shooting, a teacher found the shooter's worksheet with drawings of a gun and the words "Blood everywhere." Below the gun drawing were the words: "The thoughts won't stop" and "Help me."

Moreover, the report said that counselors had "enough concerning information" at that time to notify the principal, who could have conducted a proper threat assessment and searched the shooter’s backpack, investigators said in the report.

Investigators also said district officials should have forced the shooter's parents to take him home and get him to a mental health professional after a meeting with them inside the school. Instead, district officials "allowed the shooter to return to class with his backpack, which contained the gun and ammunition he used later that day to gun down students in the hallways of OHS."

While investigators said the shooter is "correctly to blame" along with his parents, who supplied him with the "instrument of death," district officials failed to provide a "safe and secure environment."

"Our investigation has revealed that had proper threat assessment guidelines been in place and District threat assessment policy followed, this tragedy was avoidable," investigators said in the report.

Investigators spoke with victims, families, school board members, district officials and others to conduct their investigation. Investigators said they reached out to 161 people for interviews, and 70 did not respond or refused to participate. They also said some district officials denied and shifted responsibility elsewhere.

Investigators will hold three public questions-and-answer sessions on the findings on Thursday at 1 p.m., 3:30 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. at the Oxford Township Board Room at 300 Dunlap Road in Oxford. There will also be a listening session on Nov. 9 from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. in the Oxford Middle School Media Center.

Ethan Crumbley, 17, pleaded guilty to 24 counts, including four counts of first-degree premeditated murder and terrorism in connection to the Oxford school shooting in November 2021. He will be sentenced Dec. 8.

His parents, Jennifer and James Crumbley, were each charged with four counts of involuntary manslaughter in connection to the deadly Oxford school shooting. Their trial is expected to start on Tuesday, Jan. 23, 2024, in Oakland County.