A 17-year-old girl testified on Friday that during the mass shooting at Oxford High School in Michigan in 2021 that left four classmates dead and seven others injured, she just prayed and covered her head.
Sheri Myre, the mother of slain Oxford student Tate Myre, weeps in court. (Source: CNN)
Courtroom Scene on the Trial of Mass Shooting in Michigan
In Published news from CNN, Ethan Crumbley entered a plea of guilty to one act of terrorism resulting in death, four counts of first-degree murder, as well as 19 additional offenses related to the mass shooting. During the tearful second day of the hearing, two children and an assistant principal reported coming face-to-face with the shooter.
Heidi Allen stated, “I didn’t know if those were my last moments,” at a hearing to decide if Crumbley should spend the rest of his life behind bars without the chance of parole. Crumbley, dressed in an orange jumpsuit, peered down at the defense table through his black-rimmed spectacles as Allen described the gruesome day, she assisted in saving a wounded student.
Allen claimed that when she turned a corner in a school hallway, the shooter came out of a lavatory. Allen claimed that despite his mask and all-black attire, she still recognized him. She claimed that they had gone to school together since middle school. Allen narrated in her testimonials at the courtroom, that at the very moment of the shooting, her mind was preoccupied, but she was certain of who it was. But at the same time, she was in doubt it couldn’t be Ethan. She just closed her eyes and later realized that it is already gone.
Nearby, two female students were lying on the ground. There was another downed girl in the corridor. According to Allen’s testimony, she led Arthur to the center of the classroom. Blood was seen throughout. Arthur had received shots to the neck and chest. Allen applied pressure to her wounds with a sweatshirt. Along with her classmate, Allen prayed. She recalls believing that she was supposed to remain unharmed in the corridor.
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Another Witness-victim of the Mass Shooting
Keegan Gregory, 16, who was a freshman at the time of the massacre, described how he managed to escape the carnage while a classmate who had hidden with him in a lavatory was shot to death only a short distance away. Before Crumbley kicked open the door to discover them, Gregory and Justin Shilling, a senior at the time, hid in a lavatory stall. Gregory was instructed to climb up on the toilet and hide with Shilling so that the gunman couldn’t see their feet. Shilling positioned himself in front of the student using the restroom.
Gregory furiously messaged his family’s group chat while he was hiding. One text says, “IM HIDING IN THE BATHROOM.” Then he quickly texted “OMG… HELP… MOM” in a string of one-word messages. His father replied and advised him to be calm and silent. I’m terrified, he retorted.
Crumbley pounded on the stall door to get it open. He momentarily departed before coming back. Gregory was instructed to remain still, and Shilling was directed to leave the restroom. Gregory claimed to have heard a shot being fired. He sent this message to his family: “HE KILLED HIM. OMFG.”
Gregory was instructed to exit the restroom by the gunman, who also directed him to stand close to the area where Shilling’s head was covered with blood. Gregory testified, “When he moved the gun away from his side, I ran behind his back and out the door.” I realized that I would perish if I persisted. Gregory arrived at the office without incident.
He pushed me up against the wall as I fled, saying, “I just watched him kill someone.” Gregory displayed a tattoo of the shooting date in Roman numerals and four hearts for each victim on his forearm to the jury. A crimson heart with a halo over it stands in for Shilling. Gregory claimed that if he hadn’t passed away within, he would have already passed away. The student witnesses weren’t questioned back by the defense.
The testimony follows the introduction by the prosecution of audio from two video clips that Crumbley shot before the rampage he carried out at his high school when he was 15 years old, as well as the tense exchanges between a shooting victim and the defense attorney cross-examining her the day before.
On the audio that was played in court, he is heard saying, “My name is Ethan Crumbley, age 15, and I am going to be the next school shooter.” “I’ve given this a lot of thought. I keep returning to it in my thoughts. But I can’t stop thinking about it.”
As the recording played, Crumbley seemed to stare down at the defense table. During the hearing, the second audio file featured Crumbley saying, “I’m going to have so much fun tomorrow.” In the recordings, Crumbley discussed the downturn in his life and calmly explained his murderous scheme.
“I’m going to approach someone from behind and shoot a bullet into their head. That is the first victim,” he continued. “I’m going to start shooting at everyone in the hallway, trying to hit as many as I can. When I reload, I’ll discover folks hiding. I want to demonstrate to them how mistaken they are and how misled they are.”
On Thursday, Oakland County Prosecutor Karen McDonald told the court that Crumbley should be given a life sentence in prison because of his propensity for violence and his premeditated approach before the shooting. According to Crumbley’s lawyer, Paulette Loftin, the defense will demonstrate that Crumbley is not “irreparably corrupt” and should instead receive a prison term of many years.
Lt. Timothy Willis of the Oakland County Sheriff’s Office, who oversaw the shooting investigation, testified as the first witness for the prosecution. He claimed that in January, Crumbley used a jail computer tablet to get through device security and view a violent website. According to the lieutenant, when investigators found the search history that Crumbley had tried to remove from the device, the adolescent said he was unable to “resist” going to the website he frequently visited before the shooting.
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